For legal action to prosecute the guilty

Congress(I) Leader of the Opposition Chhagan Bhujbal has been among the Shiv Sena's most vociferous critics. That fact is not without its ironies, for Bhujbal was once a key Shiv Sena leader. His shift of allegiance, the formidable leader of the Other Backward Classes says, came about as a result of his growing realisation of the Shiv Sena's mafia activities and revulsion with its communal politics. Now, he says, the Srikrishna Commission Report has exposed the Shiv Sena for what it is: a party with the sole objective of engineering communal riots for political benefit. Unlike leaders of the Samajwadi Party, however, Bhujbal says that using legal means to ensure that the Commission's findings are translated into criminal prosecutions will be more successful than a mass agitation programme. Excerpts from an interview he gave Praveen Swami:

There appears to have been very little vocal mass reaction to the Srikrishna Commission Report. Why has this been so?

There has been a great deal of discussion on the report, and the people are incensed by the Shiv Sena. But their voices are muted. This is because people are afraid even to talk about the Shiv Sena. People will openly abuse other political parties, but will either say nothing about the Shiv Sena, or lie that they support it. But in their hearts, they are fed up with the party's reign of terror. The people spoke through their votes in the Lok Sabha elections, and defeated them in 212 of 288 constituencies. And when it is election time again, they will throw out these terrorists from power.

There was a great deal of tension in Mumbai before the Action Taken Report was tabled. Why do you believe this was the case?

Consider the pattern of events in the days before the report was tabled. In the previous three weeks, Bal Thackeray's statements had become increasingly hysterical. The controversy over (the deportation of) Bangla- deshis was engineered by the Shiv Sena to create a sense of fear. Then there was an incident at a Minister's home, when, despite his security personnel being present, some Shiv Sena workers pulled out a revolver and threatened him. Finally, all kinds of rumours were spread that riots were imminent. So an atmosphere was created in which those who would wish to speak against the Shiv Sena would be too scared to do so.

What is you response to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi's charge that the Srikrishna Commission Report was communally biased?

What he said is an insult to India. In 50 years, no government has ever rejected any report because it was in favour of this or against that community. Governments have always gone by the merits of a report, and acted on that basis. And here we have a Chief Minister, no less, making remarks that are not only inflammatory and irresponsible, but also outright dishonest.

The only solution now is to initiate legal action to force the Government to prosecute the guilty. The judiciary is great and will ensure justice. We will file a petition in the appropriate court shortly. Others have already done so, and I am sure more will join us.

The other important thing is to explain to the people just what the report has said, and avoid political games of pitting one community against the other. The Srikrishna Commission Report does not concern only one community, but all the people of Mumbai, Maharashtra and India.

Do you believe further communal riots are possible in Mumbai in the near future? Or will the Srikrishna Comm-ission Report's findings deter their perpetrators?

The Shiv Sena knows it has lost all popularity. They are desperate to consolidate their position, and their only card is to engineer a riot. For the last 20 years, that is all they have done: have a riot, win an election; have a riot, win another election. After all, in the wake of the Mumbai riots they won 30 of 33 seats in the Mumbai region, because the fact is that after such tension and killings people's irrational sentiments and emotions take over. Communal consolidation takes place. It is very difficult to talk reason in times when everything has fallen apart. But this time, the Shiv Sena will fail. You can fool some people some of the time, but not all the people all the time. People realise the Shiv Sena has done nothing for them.

What do you believe are the other reasons for the erosion in this Government's popularity?

These people have taken Maharashtra back 20 years. Businesses and industry are in a mess, and unemployment is growing every day. Corruption has reached levels that were inconceivable in the past. Crime is rampant, and every day one reads of killings and extortion by gangsters. But what are the Government's priorities? Setting one community against the other and whipping up passions over bogus issues. This was the reason the Shiv Sena and the BJP were thrashed in the Lok Sabha elections. And this will be the reason why they will be destroyed in the next Assembly election.