One of the finest and the tallest politicians I had the occasion to work with is no more. Kalyan Singh’s role in the demolition of Babri Masjid has been discussed and debated in various forums. As I was with him on the fateful day in Lucknow. I wrote my personal impressions in “Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant”Consequent to the controversial unlocking of the mandir gates in 1986, a massive campaign was launched to build a Ram temple on the site. This was the backdrop when the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) under the Kalyan Singh came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 1991 and I was appointed as director, Information and Public Relations.Kalyan Singh had taken on his job in the right earnest. He was certainly concerned about the Ram Mandir issue but on assuming office, he made his intentions clear to provide honest and purposeful governance. He was keen on conveying a message that he meant business. His vision went much beyond the Mandir. His objective was to build a new and vibrant Uttar Pradesh.He left no stone unturned to achieve his objective. Improvements were clearly in evidence in the form of delivery of services at the field and in the postings of competent officers. These officers were provided security of tenure (the state was otherwise notorious for its flourishing ‘transfer industry’) and necessary backing to carry out the task of implementing policies.He did want a grand temple at Ayodhya and was diligently working towards a peaceful and amicable consensus. There were indeed a few options emerging. One such option was the construction of a new masjid close to the site. He even gave an example of the shifting of mosques when Aswan Dam was being constructed in Egypt. This idea was gradually gaining currency. He was engaging intensively with all the stakeholders. However, he was totally against the aggressive posturing that was the hallmark of rightwing religious organisations.Ironically, what emerged in the judgement of the Supreme Court in 2019 was the solution that Kalyan Singh had been working on and attempting to convince various parties to come around to!However, what happened on the December 6, 1992, shocked him as well. Those who believe that Kalyan Singh was the man behind this demolition overlook the fact that he had an absolute majority in the assembly. Why would he want to bring his own government down in case the Masjid gets demolished? He would have surely known the consequences of the demolition. In his repeated interactions with the central leadership, he was arguing against the congregation of karsevaks at the site.This became evident on the December 6 in his telephonic conversation with Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, then chief minister of Rajasthan. I was present when this conversation took place. Kalyan Singh was livid. He reiterated that he was against such a congregation, but he was overruled, and no one listened to him. His reservation about such a congregation was not based on any apprehension of a mishap (he was somehow convinced that the structure will never come down in the manner it finally did) but with regard to the unnecessary distractions that such events created. He was opposed to the congregation in July as well but, fortunately, no untoward incident happened then.The other question often raised is, why didn’t he allow the central forces stationed nearby to handle the situation? It is a fact that Kalyan Singh didn’t permit the central forces to take over or seek their assistance, but it does not automatically imply that he did not allow the central forces to come in because he wanted the demolition to take place. Kalyan Singh believed that, as in July, the karsevaks would go back after performing pooja and that no harm would come to the Masjid. However, on this occasion, he was wrong. The structure came down and, with it, his own government.(The writer was Director of Information and Public Relations during Kalyan Singh’s government)
from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2XHFRpT
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