Uneasy calm

Published : Dec 31, 2010 00:00 IST

An explosion in Varanasi on December 7 marks an otherwise quiet Babri Masjid demolition anniversary.

in Ayodhya and Lucknow

A CLOUD of apprehension descends over large parts of Uttar Pradesh in the first week of December, around the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, whether anything untoward happens or not around that time. But the sense of foreboding is a repeating phenomenon as is the politicking that most of the political parties indulge in during this period. This year has been no different. This was how Mohammed Yasin, joint secretary of the Varanasi-based Anjuman Intazamiya Masjid, delineated the atmosphere in the country's most populous State in the run-up to the anniversary. The situation in Ayodhya and surrounding areas, including its twin town of Faizabad, during these days lived up to his description. There was no untoward incident, but the strict security arrangements, including the imposition of Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code, and the presence of a sizeable number of security personnel did create a sense of the extraordinary.

A day after this routine was played out in Ayodhya, a blast occurred in Varanasi, another temple town approximately 200 kilometres away, killing an infant and injuring about 25 people. As if on cue, the politicking on issues relating to terrorism and Hindutva politics gathered some momentum and intensity. First off the mark was, of course, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-led Sangh Parivar, which took out a procession in Ayodhya immediately after the blast. The former Lok Sabha member and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ram Vilas Vedanti and a clutch of VHP sants and mahant were in the procession. The procession condemned Islamist jehadi terrorism as well as the Central government's minority appeasement policy towards incidents like this and demanded the immediate hanging of Afzal Guru, convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case, and Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, as a counter-attack measure against the perpetrators of the Varanasi blast.

This was followed by a tussle between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-led government in Uttar Pradesh. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who visited Varanasi a day after the blast, asserted that the State government had been given prior information of a potential attack at the ghats on the Ganga in Varanasi. The reference was apparently to an advisory, reportedly given in March. Officials in the Union Home Ministry added that the Uttar Pradesh Police had not been cooperative and that investigative agencies had had to wait a while before they could apprehend the suspects. Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh retorted that no specific, actionable intelligence was given by Central intelligence agencies to the State government.

Blame games of this genre have emerged time and again in the immediate aftermath of terror attacks, and if the past record is anything to go by, the current debate should also persist for a few weeks with no final verdict on whose error caused the slip-up that led to the terror attack. The blame games and the Hindutva rhetoric, however, did not have any direct or immediate impact on the residents of either Varanasi or Ayodhya. The majority and minority communities in both towns maintained peace, albeit with the sense of apprehension that has come to characterise the first week of December.

However, in Ayodhya, there were some subtle political expressions advanced by the main players in the Ayodhya tangle, the RSS, the Sangh Parivar and the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC). Their moves were cautious and had high symbolic value as both sides are preparing to appeal in the Supreme Court against the September 30 verdict of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, which had suggested a division of the disputed site in Ayodhya into three parts.

These subtle political expressions included muted observations of Shaurya Divas (victory day) by the VHP, the self-professed sword arm of the Hindutva combine, and Yaum-e-Gham (day of mourning) by the BMAC and other Muslim organisations. Until last year, the VHP used to gather a sizable number of Sangh Parivar activists at Karsevak Puram, the so-called headquarters of the Kar sevaks who demolished the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, and proclaim its resolve to continue with the aggressive movement to build a magnificent Ram temple in Ayodhya. This time, however, there was no show of strength or ferociousness. Instead, the main function of the day was organised by a new associate outfit called the Hanumant Shakti Jagran Committee (HSJC), which deputed about 200 of its activists to organise a yagnya and recitation of Hanuman chalisa (poems in honour of Hanuman). This was apparently to evoke the blessings of the gods to carry forward the efforts to fulfil the promise to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Commenting on the moderate functions of the day, Sharad Sharma, VHP spokesperson at Karsevak Puram, told Frontline that the September 30 verdict was perceived as an incomplete victory by the VHP and its associates in the Sangh Parivar and that now was the time for restraint rather than a show of excitement. It is an incomplete victory, but nevertheless a victory for the Sangh Parivar's ideas on Ayodhya and the Ram mandir. We need to build on this victory, and that is what we are going to do in the Supreme Court. In the meantime, we need to work steadily but without causing any tumultuous turn to the general atmosphere. What you saw today is in keeping with this broad understanding, he told Frontline. The plans to work steadily include the organisation of about 10,000 public meetings across India campaigning for the cause of the Ram mandir, which are to be completed by December 31. Further plans will be made and implemented later, along with the pursuit of the case in the Supreme Court, said Sharad Sharma.

The BMAC and some other Muslim organisations observed Yaum-e-Gham at the residence of Haji Mehboob, a plaintiff in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. Another Muslim organisation, the Indian Muslim Samaj, held a function at the Beniganj Masjid. Unlike in the past, the BMAC function was also bereft of lengthy or fiery speeches. Leaders from different parts of Uttar Pradesh gathered along with hundreds of Muslims from Ayodhya and Faizabad, shared a mass lunch, held discussions in small groups and left. Here, too, the idea was to keep tempers under control, pointed out Haji Mehboob.

We have many more rounds of legal battle to fight and we should not expend our energy on unnecessary excitement, Khaliq Ahamed Khan, a prominent activist of the BMAC, told Frontline, explaining the absence of mass mobilisations and passionate speeches.

Both Khaliq and Yasin pointed out that an overwhelming majority of the Muslim community was convinced that in this context it was important to maintain peace and harmony. And hence, whoever triggered the Varanasi blast does not have the interests of the community or that of the larger society at heart. It is essentially an attempt to demolish communal harmony and Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and create an atmosphere of instability. The government should take these factors into consideration and probe the incident from all angles, including the possibility of the involvement of some newly formed terrorist groups, Yasin told Frontline.

However, as of now, the Union government and its investigative agencies are proceeding on the premise that the blast marks the revival of the jehadist group called the Indian Mujahideen (IM). Officials in the Home Ministry have also disclosed that a key IM operative, Shahzad, who was arrested in February, had revealed that Dashashvemedh Ghats in Varanasi and the German Bakery in Pune were potential targets. According to these officials, there are about 20 IM recruits active around the world, six of whom are in India.

As these pieces of information come out, the residents of Ayodhya and Varanasi continue to maintain their calm, which seems to be pregnant with the realisation that they have many more battles to survive before reaching anything close to a lasting peace.

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