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Journalism of Courage
Judgements, chargesheets, legalese, lawyers8230; they will be coming out of our ears in the coming days and months and not only because of Sessions Judge V.K. Singh8217;s judgement in Rae Bareli chargesheeting Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and six other leaders but absolving Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani of all guilt. All eight were in Ayodhya, witness to the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
When Joshi addressed the Associations of Managers at Delhi8217;s Taj Palace Hotel on September 18, he would never have suspected that the theme 8220;unexpected, unknown8221; was loaded with meaning like some chant from Macbeth8217;s weird sisters. No sooner had he completed his talk than two nimble TV crews accosted him. Charges were to be framed on the Babri Masjid case in Rae Bareli the next day. What is your response to the 8220;unexpected, unknown8221;? Joshi, confident that the same fate that awaited Advani awaited him, decided almost instinctively to climb the high moral ground. 8220;I shall resign if I am chargesheeted.8221;
On September 19, Joshi attended an ISKON meeting and returned home. At 3.15 pm he was told that TV crews were waiting for him outside because the judgement was expected at 3.30 p.m. The NDTV bulletin gave him relief. Both Advani and Joshi had been let off.
The gathering around Advani was larger. TV channels have become a new and a powerful element determining the tempo of Indian politics. But careful politicians like to check crucial facts for themselves. Lawyers in Rae Bareli were contacted for details of the judgement. It then transpired that the NDTV story had to be corrected.
A shocked Joshi learnt that he had been chargesheeted. He promptly faxed his resignation letter to the prime minister. Copies were sent to the deputy prime minister and BJP President Venkaiah Naidu. Advani said he was 8220;relieved8221; that he was in the clear but he would have been 8220;elated8221; if all eight were exonerated.
Now all the accused are expected to be present in Rae Bareli on October 10. Will they? Or will revisions be sought from the courts? The VHP and factions in the RSS have been unhappy with the prime minister as well as the deputy prime minister on their 8220;lukewarm8221; attitude towards the 8220;Ayodhya movement8221;. Does Joshi8217;s 8220;martyrdom8221; earn them the sympathy of the RSS and the VHP?
Moreover will the prime minister accept the resignation? If he does not, the issue of a chargesheeted minister will keep Parliament on its toes.
Should the Rae Bareli judgment go up for review, Advani8217;s alleged complicity on the day the mosque fell will also, willy nilly, come into focus again.
The Congress chief ministerial candidate in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, may already have benefitted from Mayawati8217;s disenchantment with the BJP. The BSP leader has considerable influence in a wide belt of the state abutting UP. Now the chargesheeting of the MP chief ministerial candidate, Uma Bharati, clearly gives further advantage to the Congress. Little wonder Uma Bharati has torn into Sonia Gandhi, accusing her of promoting conversions to Christianity. Poor Sonia Gandhi, she must be aghast.
Tension between Joshi and the party apparatus, controlled by Advani, explains the thinly disguised jubilation among Advani supporters over Joshi8217;s discomfiture. But, on the other hand, Uma Bharati8217;s travails will hit the party directly in a key state. So some legal reprieve has to be contrived which, by the same token, opens up the Advani matter. His supporters say Advani is himself surprised over how the Court has been so harsh on 8220;his colleagues8221;.
Joshi8217;s men have made Xerox copies of the judgement and underlined page 124 for emphasis. Here the judge cites the testimony of Anju Gupta, superintendent of police in charge of Advani8217;s security in Ayodhya on the fateful day. Since the judgement is in Hindi, passages cannot be reproduced here verbatim. At one point Advani asks Anju Gupta by her testimony what was happening on the dome of Babri Masjid. He later asked her if she knew what was happening inside the mosque. The judge has cited this exchange as evidence of the fact that Advani did not know. His anxious queries proved events were taking a course beyond his control. His guilt, therefore, cannot be established.
The judgement will surely to be analysed threadbare in the days to come. Indeed, the focus will not remain confined to the Rae Bareli verdict. The whole plethora of cases around the Ayodhya events since 1992 will open up for scrutiny. How the consolidated 49 First Information Reports were broken up into 47 cases plus one plus case 198. How the cases shuttled between Lalitpur, Rae Bareli and Lucknow. The cavernous routes adopted by the courts, investigating agencies and their political masters are beyond comprehension. Serious research and investigation are required.
Since matters are coming to a head at time when the country is getting into the election mode first the five assembly elections followed by Lok Sabha elections in 2004, political parties may be interested in creating legal pools to unravel the complicated navigation of cases around the Ayodhya episode. Is there a master hand somewhere, a spider in the web?
The prime minister was creating one kind of a platform beginning with his April 18 speech in Srinagar. By universal consent that is the only winning electoral platform possible in these divisive times. How much of a control will he have on the reins with attention being rivetted on chargesheets, courts, judgements and lawyers, bringing to a head all the cases simmering beyond public gaze these past years?
