Organization: Penn State University
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 22:46:12 EDT
From: <DXA4@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: BJP's Own Kalyan

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Date:    1 September 1992, 20:27:38 EDT
From:    DXA4     at PSUVM
Subject: BJP's own Kalyan
To:      editor at andy.bgsu.edu

Following commentary by Mr. Swapan Dasgupta on the recent developments in
Ayodhya and the deft handling of the whole situation by Mr. Kalayan Singh,
BJP Chief Minister of U.P., will make very intersting reading. He opines that
UP chief minister may prove for BJP to be the springboard to both the accomp-
lishing the Ram Temple at the Ramjanambhoomi and power at the Center.
Mr. Swapan Dasgupta was a senior editor of Times of India and now is
on the editorial board of Sunday (Weekly).

   Dinesh Agrawal.....

***********************************

BJP's OWN KALYAN

By: Mr. Swapan Dasgupta

Source: Sunday (Weekly) August 9-15, 1992

Ebullience is a characteristic not normally associated with the present chief
minister of Uttar Pradesh. Self-effacing to the point of absurdity, Kalayan
Singh has, however, reasons to be jubilant at the turn of events in the state
following the latest round of Kar Seva in Ayodhya. "This government will last
for five years," a confident chief minister told this writer in Lucknow after
the excitement had died down, "and the next time we will return with an increa-
sed majority."

These may well be the famous last words, but as of to-day, the UP government
is riding very high. The 17 days of high-voltage activity around the disputed
shrine has enabled the chief minister to regain the initiative for the BJP.
Kalayn Singh has left no one in doubt that he stands by the mandate to facili-
tate the construction of the Ram Janambhoomi temple. At the same time, he has
fulfilled his constitutional obligation to uphold court orders. Most important,
he has exposed the utter futility of the gung-ho approach to a sensitive
problem that involves the faith of millions of Hindus.

By successfully keeping the peace - there is no curfew anywhere in the state-
despite secularist provacation, the UP government created the conditions for
the Prime Minister to enter into dialogue with the sants. Rao may now claim
that the state government came crying to him for help, but there is independent
confirmation of Kalyan Singh's assertion that "the sants would not have nego-
tiated" with New Delhi had it not been for the gentle persuasion of the state
government and the sangh parivar.

The rejection of confrontationist politics was facilitated by a grudging accep-
tance of ground realities by both sides. Whatever the ingredients of S.B.
Chavan's famous "contigency plan," the fact remains that the Centre was plain
unwilling to shower bullets on hordes of determined kar sevaks and sadhus.
There may not have been any grand Hindu mobilization for the kar seva, but the
spontaneous turnout of villagers, particularly women, from the adjoining distri
ts of Faizabad was proof that the Ram temple remains a powerful emotional draw.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Syed Shahabuddin, the CPI(M) and the Muslim League apart,
no political party and leader wants to be in the unenviable position of being
branded anti-Hindu, and Rao was no exception. What may also have tilted the
scales against confrontation is Kalyan Singh's veiled threat that there is a
common thread linking the UP government, the Center, the construction of the
Ram temple and the security of the Babri structure. Snapping at one runs
the risk of endangering the rest.


Yet, despite the known pitfalls of central intervention, the Rao government
would have been in no position to avoid walking into Arjun Singh's trap had
the sants stuck to their trishuls and persisted in defying the court's orders.
Kalyan Singh may be right that "not one government would have servived" had
legal niceties been made the precondition of survival. Unfortunately, Ayodhya
is a case apart. To avoid central action under Article 356, the votaries of
Hindutva had no choice but to exercise restraint and cease construction.

It is now well known that neither the Sant Samaj nor the VHP were keen to
follow the court orders. The initial rebuff of Rajmata Scindia was not stage-
managed to raise the stakes. Unlike the BJP and the RSS who see the Ram Janamb-
hoomi issue as an aspect of a larger Hindu renaissance, there is a large body
of sants for whom the temple is an article of faith and an end in itself.
In addition, the excitable members of the Bajrang Dal are in permanent readi-
ness for a fight, regardless of the strategic imperatives. Blunting the thrust
of these unguided missiles, required considerable effort on the part of both
L.K. Advani and the high priests from Nagpur. And even now, Mr. Ashok Singhal
is clearly unhappy with the decision.

The cease-fire appeal succeeded not because Rao charmed the leading sadhus with
his Ram bhakti or because of a "secret" deal over temple construction. The PM's
statement in Parliament and the utterances of those sants who attended the
meeting at Race Course Road, show a significant mismatch. Swami Vamdeo has
said so publicly and S.C. Dixit, the MP from Varanasi, has repeated it in the
Lok Sabha.

Both Ashok Singhal and Advani have also told this writer that an out-of-court,
negotiated settlement-centered on an assessment of archaeological and histori-
cal evidence - was at the core of the understanding with Rao. Yet, the pro-
temple camp has registered merely a token protest against this apparent breach
of trust. On the contrary, Kalyan Singh praised the PM's "sober stand," compli-
mented him for "rising above partisan pressure" and refused to "prejudge" his
initiative to resolve the issue.

This curious doublespeak does not amount to proof that the soldiers of Ram are
totally confused and have been successfully outwitted by the wily Prime Minist-
er. Whatever Rao may say of a Supreme Court judgement being binding on all
parties, the Hindutva camp views temple construction as non-negotiable and
outside the purview of judicial scrutiny.

What is, however, negotiable are the modelities of construction - the question
whether building work will proceed peacefully with government approval or
whether it will be effected after confrontation. The four-month respite is
significant only in this context.

The tactical retreat of the sants, the VHP and the BJP was, it seems, prompted
by other considerations. First, unlike sections of the Sant Samaj and VHP who
were carried away by the euphoria of kar seva, the BJP seems to have been clear
in its mind that it is premature to force a confrontation with the Center.
Besides logistical problems posed by the monsoons, there was a reluctance to
engage in battle over the peripheral issue of the singhadwar and the nrityaman-
dap.

The recent offensive in Ayodhya had imporatnt but limited objectives: to rein-
vigorate the faithful, to boost credibility of the state government, to demora-
lise the secularist opposition and to make the construction of the temple a
fait accompli. On all counts, the mission has been successful and the powder
kept dry for the ultimate battle over the garbha griha.

Second, there is a grudging recognition by the entire Ram Janambhoomi movement
that such rapid and dramatic progress would not have been possible without the
presence of a friendly government in Lucknow. The lip service to renunciation
and the rhetorical willingness to sacrifice the regime for the "cause" should
not distract from a growing appreciation of Kalyan Singh's endeavours to ful-
fill his mandate. From the shilanyas of 1989 to the clearing of adjoining areas
and the construction of the temple foundations has been a quantum leap forward,
and would have proved impossible without the imaginative exercise of administra
tive power.

This may be viewed as evidence of compromise by the political fundamentalists,
but the continuation of the Kalyan Singh government - with its reputation and
credentials intact - is the surest way of securing a temple for Ram. MORE TO
THE POINT, GOOD GOVERNANCE OF THE TYPE VISIBLE FROM LUCKNOW, OFFERS THE BJP A
VIABLE PLATFORM FOR ITS MARCH TO DELHI: COMMITMENT TO RAM AND A TRACK RECORD
OF PROVEN COMPETENCE.

The strategy has its risks, but at least, there is now an awareness that it is
absurd to chant the same slogan twice without an attractive add-on. For the
BJP, Kalyan Singh may well prove the springboard to both Ram and power at the
Centre.