No girl in this country should suffer what my daughter went through, says father

“Former Chief Ministers shielded Rathore”


Vrinda Sharma & Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH: Breaking his silence, the father of the 14-year-old tennis player who committed suicide in 1993 after having been molested by the former Haryana Director-General of Police, S.P.S. Rathore in 1990, accused the former Chief Minister, Om Parkash Chautala, and other politicians of shielding the officer.

Talking to journalists at Panchkula on Thursday, he broke down while narrating the police harassment meted out to him and his family at the behest of Mr. Rathore, who was appointed DGP by Mr. Chautala in 1999.

Demanding a harsher sentence for Mr. Rathore for “abetting in the suicide,” he said had the Hukam Singh government acted against the officer in 1990 on the basis of the inquiry conducted by the then DGP, R.R. Singh, “my daughter would have been alive today.”

Why was Mr. Rathore not charged with “abetment to suicide” though the Special CBI Court at Ambala, where the case was heard initially, held that a case of abetment to suicide was also made out?

Successive Chief Ministers, including Bhajan Lal, the late Bansi Lal and Mr. Chautala “virtually shielded” Mr. Rathore and promoted him, said the father of the girl. The governments did nothing to prevent police harassment of his family when it was framed “in false cases.” It was only the courts that came to the rescue of the family and absolved it of the “fake charges.”

“My daughter was molested, harassed and driven to death. My son was tormented and false cases were filed against him. We were harassed at every stage. We were forced to go into hiding and leave Chandigarh owing to the harassment by Rathore and his colleagues. We were forced to withdraw the complaint as policemen were sent to our house to threaten us,” he said, his voice choking with emotion. “No girl in this country should go through what my daughter went through.”

He said he and his family were still “living in terror” and might have to seek “security,” as Mr. Rathore, who still enjoyed “political patronage and influence with the authorities,” was out on bail. The sentence of six-month imprisonment awarded to Mr. Rathore was “too little, too late,” said the father.

Mr. R.R. Singh and the former Haryana Home Secretary, J.K. Duggal, have said they recommended action against Mr. Rathore, but the political masters refused to initiate any action.

The case, which dragged on for 19 years, tells a long tale of a girl’s family which faced harassment — the girl was turned out of Sacred Heart School here for “indiscipline” and forced to appear for Class 10 board exams from the open school before she committed suicide. Neither the school nor the Haryana police are willing to talk about the “harassment meted out to the family.”

Madhu Prakash, a close friend and one of the complainants, said the fight was on to ensure that the abetment-to-suicide case was reopened and action taken against “those in authority” who harassed the family. However, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that it would be difficult to “trace the records” of “harassment” as sometimes such “activities” were “carried out off the record.”

Soon after molestation, the girl was suspended from the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association, then headed by Mr. Rathore. False cases of theft, murder and civil defamation were filed against her father and brother.

In October 1993, the girl’s brother, who was also in his teens, had multiple cases of car theft slapped on him, and was arrested in 11 cases. He was arrested by the Crime Branch of the Panchkula police and kept in illegal detention for more than two months. He was allegedly forced to sign on blank papers, which the police used to show his “confession” that he had stolen 11 cars. Mr. Rathore allegedly asked him to tell his sister that if she did not take back the complaint, her family would face the same action. On December 28, 1993, traumatised by the repeated humiliation and mental agony, the girl consumed poison and died the next day.

Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/25/stories/2009122558040100.htm

A Word From The Taliban

Regarding the Invaders Recent Brutalities.

Remarks of Z. Mujahid, Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan


December 18, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- The public of the world, particularly, our country men know that the invading forces usually detain miserable Afghans under various pretexts and then mercilessly torture them. These atrocities have been continuing at the hand of the invaders for the past eight years. Besides these, there are other savageries being committed by the invading forces. Even mass murder has been committed by the cut- throat troops. But the so-called advocates of the human rights and the international community have always turned a blind eye to all these crimes. They have never put out a protest nor issued any word of condemnation, despite that the atrocities have been continuing unabatedly. Here, we present our readers with facts about the following gruesome events:

On October 22, foreign invaders killed two Afghan prisoners and put their dead bodies near Kikorak Shrine in Sabari district. Earlier, the brutal invaders had arrested them in Sara Bagh during a night raid on their houses. One week before this gruesome incident, foreign invaders in Khost, had detained Haji Badshah Khan, a resident of Bak district. They killed him pointblank and put his dead body in a dried river bed near Sara Bagh Bus stop. He had been mercilessly tortured to death by the callous foreign troops. A few days ago, the cut-throat invading forces, detained Nadeem, resident of Ali Sher district and Noor Wazir, resident of Moli area of Sabari district. They were on their way home, riding on motor cycles after doing shopping in Khost Bazaar. The invading American troops signaled them to stop and arrested them forthwith. Then, the brutal soldiers killed them at Khana Kandaw during the night and left their corpses there. They had been tied up with shackles and ropes usually used by American and foreign soldiers. American trained dogs had devoured flesh of their bodies. In Laghman, Kunduz, Zabul and Ghazni provinces, similar brutalities have taken place.

In our view, the cunning and coward enemy suffers material and soul losses every day. They lose dozens of military tanks as a result of face-to-face battles with Mujahideen. Therefore, they vent their revenge on innocent people, to create rift and hatred between Mujahideen and the common people intentionally. But it should be made clear to them, if the enemy resorts to such horrendous actions in order to weaken the morale of the people, so that they would withdraw their support from the Mujahideen., they are wrong. Their inhuman actions will only give rise to creating sensitivities against the invaders and they will face a shameful defeat with the passage of time.

The Afghans have never subjugated by foreign invaders throughout the history nor have they accepted existence of foreign invaders on their soil. They have always struggled in the way of freedom and succeeded, in the long run, in liberating not only their land but lands of other occupied people thanks to their self-less sacrifices.

The people of Khost and human rights entities themselves witnessed the dead bodies of these miserable Afghans. We call on all human right organizations not to remain silent over the massacre of common people any more and conduct a neutral investigation about the killings and live up to the expectation for what they have been established to begin with.

Source:http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24222.htm

As Yet Another Year Comes to a Close…

Have you ever thought of how many years you have left? With every sunrise and sunset, we have one day less left in this world. Death does not come to only the old and weak. Death also comes to the young and strong. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Imam Al-Ghazali says: “[Time] is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you use to reach success in the proximity of Allah.”

Wise are the words of the one who said ... "I expect to pass through this world but once; any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. The Prophet, Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “There is no day upon which the sun rises except that it says, 'O son of Adam, I am a new creation and a witness to your deeds, so use me well, as I will not return until the Day of Judgment'.”

One's time is in fact his age. It is the material of his eternal life either in everlasting joy or painful torture. It passes more quickly than clouds do. It is only the time one dedicates to Allah that constitutes one's real life and age. The rest does not count.” (Ibnul-Qayyim)

In Islam there is no room for slogans like "killing time" In fact; wasting time is much more dangerous than squandering property, because unlike property, time cannot be compensated. You cannot kill time without harming your hereafter! In reality when you kill time, it is time that is really killing you! Free time is a blessing that is overlooked, and not wholly appreciated by many people. The Prophet Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “There are two of Allah's favours that are forgotten by many people: health and free time.”

On the transience of human life, the Prophet Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “I am in this world like a rider who halts in the shade of a tree for a short time, and after taking some rest resumes his journey and leaves the tree behind.” (Tirmidhi)

“When you pass the day and arrive at the evening, do not expect that you will pass night and hope to reach morning, and when you arrive in the morning do not look forward to the evening. While in health, be ready for illness, and while alive, prepare for death.' (Bukhari)

Ibnul Qayyim says: “A sign that Allah despises you is when you find yourself wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way, you miss your chance of going to heaven. A sign that Allah likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.” A famous quote reads: “Don't count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.”

May Allah grant us a life that is productive and fruitful. May HE protect us from wasting away our days in frivolous pursuits. Ameen.

Source:http://www.jamiat.co.za/newsletter/online_newsletter_0449.htm

A Step at a Time

It is foolhardy to climb two
trees at once just because
one has two feet.

(Ethiopian Proverb)

Everything happens in the Wisdom of Allah

Message from the Ameer of the Jamiatul Ulama

(This is a re-run of one of the Ameer’s previous messages)

A story is told about a certain King in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) by remarking, "This is good, Allah Almighty knows best"

One day the King and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the King. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the King fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good! Allah Almighty knows best." To which the King replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and ordered his soldiers to put his friend into jail.

About a year later, the King was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured the King and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the King was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So after untying the King, they chased him out of the village. When the King reached his palace, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.

"You were right" the King said, "It was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "this is good...Allah Almighty knows best"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

The King's friend replied: "Remember that the Almighty knows best and if I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you on that hunting trip!"

As Muslims, we should never question the decision of Allah in anything, and we should bear our afflictions with patience. Allah says: "He knows what is before them and what is behind them: And to Allah go back all questions (for decision)" (Surah Al Hajj 22:76)

Do Not Judge Things or Events by its Immediate Outcome!

Almighty, the Most High is the All-Knowledgeable, the All-Knower. He chooses to show us things, but sometimes we are not shown the wisdom behind some things. When we are confronted by circumstances that are not very pleasing and we are quick to say: "This is not good..." but is it really? We might not know the purpose behind it. Thus, when we are faced with any situation, we should not be too quick to judge and always remember that this life is a test and there is nothing that happens for no reason.

Source:http://www.jamiat.co.za/newsletter/online_newsletter_0449.htm

Countdown to climate change

SANA SYED

It is in our hands to save our world.

The countdown has begun. The alarm bell for the rapid change in climate rings even as the the leaders of the world are brainstorming on the issue at Copenhagen (Denmark) to find an effective solution.

The chief reason for climate change is the rise in emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, and others due to industrialisation and technological developments.

The result: sea levels could rise by close to one metre this century in response to a temperature rise of up to one degree from the present levels. This will have severe impact on the coastal flora and fauna.

In India, around 7,000 sq. km of coastal land could submerge byrising sea levels.

A significant portion of this inundation will also occur in our state, informs Farida Tampal, State Director, AP & Coordinator, Education Programme Coordination Group (EPCG), WWF-India

Apart from this, what other obvious consequence of climate change are we facing?

“The symbiotic relationship between plants and animals is getting disturbed with the onslaught. We have already started bearing the brunt with the Sundarban deltas submerging in water, Gangotri glaciers melting and the forests of the Godavari and Krishna river valleys and the Eastern Ghats facing survival threat with rise in temperature.

Insects like the honey bee that are an indispensable link between flora and fauna are hard-hit by such environmental disturbances.

Insects, a crucial link in the eco system are gradually moving towards northern areas”, says B. V. Ramana Murthy, Member Secretary, A.P Biodiversity Board.

“Agriculturally, we can tone down the pollution effect by planting short duration crops like millets.

Unlike wheat or paddy it can grow throughout the year, even in water scarce regions and does not require great amount of fertilizers”, he adds.

Simple measures

Is there nothing we can do at the individual level?

Yes we can. Thanks to the positive outlook of students like Anil, Vamshi and Harsh who think a lot can be done at the personal level.

Apart from conserving energy and preferring public transport, Anil uses recycled goods; Vamshi prefers water cooled in earthen pitchers than refrigerated one and Harsh waters the garden every morning to help the green cause. But their academician C.V.K. Shastri, Dean of Academics, Mathematics and Sciences, Abhyasa School, Toopran takes a dig at the conscience of nation states asking, is it not worthwhile for both the developed and developing nations to be a little less ambitious in terms of technology frenzy and material comfort that is taking the world so near its destruction?

Let's wake up before it's too late.

Fact focus

With temperature increase, flora will be unable to perform vital biological functions

When forests shrink the animals depending on them will face extinction threat

In India, species such as Spotted deer, Sambar, Four horned antelope, Barking deer, Blue Bull and Gaur may disappear

With failing rains, freshwater flora and fauna are also in danger.

Birds like Spoonbill, the White stork, the Painted stork, the Ruddy Shelduck, the Mallard, the Garganey, and others may become extinct

Source:http://www.hindu.com/yw/2009/12/15/stories/2009121551301400.htm

Why Do Airstrikes in Afghanistan Keep Killing Exactly 30 People?

By Megan Carpentier, Air America. Posted December 11, 2009.


Pentagon policy from the Rumsfeld days on acceptable kill rates still seems to be the guiding logic for what field commanders are telling the news media.>

This first appeared on Air America Radio.

On Monday, the anonymous blogger Security Crank noticed something interesting: all the U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan seemingly kill exactly 30 people every time. How can that be?

Security Crank documented no less than 12 occasions in which news reports, relying on field commanders' estimates, noted that exactly 30 suspected Taliban were killed in airstrikes and, occasionally, artillery attacks. He said:

But the much more important point remains: how could we possibly have any idea how the war is going, here or anywhere else, when the bad guys seem only to die in groups of 30? The sheer ubiquity of that number in fatality and casualty counts is astounding, to the point where I don’t even pay attention to a story anymore when they use that magic number 30. It is an indicator either of ignorance or deliberate spin… but no matter the case, whenever you see the number 30 used in reference to the Taliban, you should probably close the tab and move onto something else, because you just won’t get a good sense of what happened there.

So, why is it always 30? Do thirty casualties seem like enough to justify a military attack, or few enough to not attract too much attention to an incident?

Another blogger, Joshua Foust of the Central Asia blog Registan, seemingly stumbled upon the answer. In a tweet, he noted:

In 2003, an air strike killing 30 civilians could be launched w/o issues. 31 dead civilians and Rummy had to approve.

Foust then linked to an LA Times article from last July by Nicholas Goldberg that documented what field commanders were told.

In a grisly calculus known as the "collateral damage estimate," U.S. military commanders and lawyers often work together in advance of a military strike, using very specific, Pentagon-imposed protocols to determine whether the good that will come of it outweighs the cost.

We don't know much about how it works, but in 2007, Marc Garlasco, the Pentagon's former chief of high-value targeting, offered a glimpse when he told Salon magazine that in 2003, "the magic number was 30." That meant that if an attack was anticipated to kill more than 30 civilians, it needed the explicit approval of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld or President George W. Bush. If the expected civilian death toll was less than 30, the strike could be OKd by the legal and military commanders on the ground.

In other words, the Pentagon determined that 30 casualties, even if they were civilian, were too few to matter politically or to attract the attention of the press for more than a few words. If commanders expected more civilian casualties than that, political leaders had to sign off on the attack in advance to make sure they were prepared for the PR fall-out.

That PR calculus of how many deaths matter to the average American has apparently carried over from the Bush Administration to the Obama Adminstration, at least insofar as ground commanders are concerned. But the American people deserve the truth about how many Afghans--civilian and otherwise--are being killed by our forces. Just because senior officials at the Pentagon think that killing 30 people doesn't warrant their attention doesn't mean they're right.

http://www.alternet.org/world/144509/why_do_airstrikes_in_afghanistan_keep_killing_exactly_30_people/

Despised Life, Fulfilled Life

“A sign that Allah despises you
is when you find yourself
wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way, you miss your chance of going to heaven. A sign that Allah likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.”
(Ibn Qayyim Rahimatullahi ‘alayhi)

Source:http://www.jamiat.co.za/newsletter/online_newsletter_0448.htm

Don’t lose your Imaan

Message from the Ameer of the Jamiatul Ulama

The foundation upon which the entire edifice of the belief and practice of a Muslim is based upon, is the concept of tawheed.

No-one or no being or thing is worthy of worship besides Allah. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Lord of the entire creation-the universe and beyond; He is Everlasting – existing beyond the boundaries of time; He is All-Powerful – absolutely nothing takes place except through His command instruction or permission; He is not dependent upon anything and everything and every being is dependent upon Him; He has no children, parents or family and He has no equal or likeness in any way whatsoever. None deserves or has a right to be worshipped or even respected as He does. He has provided for us in every way, physically and spiritually. We do not require anybody besides Him and we do not need any way other than what He has prescribed. These are only some aspects related to tawheed.

Directly opposed to tawheed is shirk – associating partners with Allah. Shirk is mentioned as the most severe of sins that a person can engage in, and Allah states that He will never forgive the person who is engaged in shirk.

It has been observed that certain practices that work toward destroying the imaan and faith of people have begun to surreptitiously creep into the lives of Muslims. From amongst these practices, two most dangerous ones are:

1. Visiting the various bogus ‘traditional, faith-healers’, ‘herbalists’ or self-proclaimed ‘religious/spiritual healers’. They proclaim to be able to assist in, among others, solving of health and sexual problems, financial difficulties, marriage and social issues and even the ‘winning of the lottery’. The farce of these frauds must be absolutely clear to all sensible persons. The danger of even visiting them ‘for fun’s sake’, in as far as engaging in practices of either direct shirk or close to shirk can never be ignored. Listening to and taking the ‘medication’ of such dubious characters puts a person in the position of risking the loss of his imaan and being thrown out of the fold of Islam.

2. Taking part in ‘trendy’, programmes which claim to have distressing characteristics and are linked to or have their basis in Indian, or other, ancient traditional or religious practices. Ideas that come into open conflict with tawheed are clandestinely and slyly sneaked into the supposed exercises aimed at ‘de-stressing’. Aspects such as becoming ‘one with mother-earth’, ‘greeting the sun’, and the utterances of ‘meaningless’ words or phrases as mantras are only a few examples. A statement by a representative of the Hindu faith explained in a newspaper, last week, that it is impossible to separate yoga from Hinduism.

There is no need to search for help outside of the boundaries of what is allowed or prescribed by the most beautiful and complete deen of Islam. There can be no better way of de-stressing than the performance of salah and engaging in dhikr of Allah.

Tawheed demands that we turn to Allah, and submit fully to Him in every way. We must submit to the Deen of Allah completely and totally, having full faith and conviction in the truth of the message of Islam, believing in the fact that success lies only in what Islam prescribes through the Qur`an and the sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), and we must submit to all the commands of Allah, without exception. We must know that there is no other way.

Allah (azza wa jalla) says in the Holy Qur`an: O ye who believe! enter into Islam completely; and follow not the footsteps of the Shaytaan; for he is to you an avowed enemy. (2:208)

Source: http://www.jamiat.co.za/newsletter/online_newsletter_0448.htm

Two BJP men, so alike and so different

Vidya Subrahmaniam

The Liberhan Commission provides an opportunity to make a more honest and less black-and-white evaluation of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani.

Critics have panned the Liberhan Commission report on the December 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid on multiple counts, berating Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan especially for placing the Teflon Atal Bihari Vajpayee alongside such accomplished disrupters as Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Rithambara and Pravin Togadia.

It is a measure of the rarefied place politics has accorded the former Prime Minister that on Monday the Congress was forced to jump on the ‘save Vajpayee’ bandwagon. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Salman Khursheed, Minister for Minority Affairs, all but regretted Mr. Vajpayee’s inclusion in the list of 68 men and women whom the Liberhan report held culpable for the Babri crime. Hardly anyone objected to the presence of Lal Krishna Advani’s name on the same list.

The judge’s conclusions are undoubtedly problematic. Unlike Mr. Advani who was in the thick of pre- and post-demolition action in Ayodhya, Mr. Vajpayee was all along on the sidelines. Yet in conferring this dubious honour on the former Prime Minister, the learned judge unwittingly broke the enduring stereotype of “moderate-Vajpayee” and “hardline Advani,” thereby providing an opportunity for a more honest and less black-and-white appraisal of the former Prime Minister and his deputy.

The celebration of Mr. Vajpayee has grown inversely with the popularity of his party, reaching hagiographic proportions in the currently adrift Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Advani’s inability to arrest the BJP’s precipitous decline, and the impression he has given of clinging to position, have only added to the Vajpayee persona and aura.

The Liberhan Commission report provides the perfect backdrop for re-evaluating the two key figures who, between them, shaped the BJP’s fortunes. Under their watch, the party scaled great heights as it plumbed the depths but, more relevantly, it grew from a sidelined introvert to a fearsome bully capable of repeatedly pushing the country to the brink. Analysts have judged Mr. Advani more guilty of divisive politics than Mr. Vajpayee, and not without reason. Mr. Advani was visibly in command whenever the BJP ran amok, as was the case during the Ram rath yatra, which he used to whip up frenzy and which inevitably set the stage for the destruction of the Babri Masjid.

By contrast, the former Prime Minister was famously toasted as the “right man in the wrong party.” He would be in the background as Mr. Advani rallied and thundered, emerging to take his place at the top once the BJP began to assimilate the limitations of combative politics. Mr. Advani was the chosen one as far as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was concerned. The RSS distrusted Mr. Vajpayee, and would not easily accept the transition to the Vajpayee era. But as the former Deputy Prime Minister himself records in his book, My Country, My Life, the ideologue was ill-suited to forge electoral partnerships, which alone could place the BJP within the reach of power. Who better to drive the coalition than the “liberal-secular” Mr. Vajpayee?

Mr. Vajpayee’s accomplishments are many, and it is entirely to his credit that the BJP-led alliance ruled for six years. But his vulnerabilities have been numerous too, though such has been the Vajpayee myth that he could move to the periphery when a wrong was done, and win commendations when a right happened.

Indeed, a dispassionate reading of the BJP’s history will establish not only Mr. Vajpayee’s frequent excursions into “communal” territory but also his failure to frontally confront the RSS despite being uniquely placed to do so. Ironically, and probably for all the wrong reasons, that job was done by Mr. Advani. In a speech delivered at the party’s national executive in Chennai on September 18-19, 2005, the former Home Minister showed the RSS its place in a manner that went beyond anything attempted by Mr. Vajpayee and which is unlikely to be equalled by any future BJP leader. Long ago, in August 1979, Mr. Vajpayee did write an article in the Indian Express, critical of the RSS but that was by a compact with the BJP’s mentor. The Jana Sangh, which was under pressure to renounce the RSS, needed to save its place in the Janata Party. Mr. Vajpayee’s piece was intended to suggest distance between the Jana Sangh members of the Janata Party and the RSS.

Mr. Vajpayee was a schoolboy when he penned a poem which went on to attain fame beyond the imagination of a child his age. The lyrics, Hindu tan man, Hindu jeevan, rag, rag mera Hindu parichay (I am Hindu in heart and body, my life is Hindu, Hindu is my only identity), inspired many generations of RSS volunteers and continues to be sung at RSS shakhas. Obviously, the song was justified by the path he took. Mr. Vajpayee joined the RSS and was among the first batch of pracharaks to migrate to the Jana Sangh.

In 1983, Mr. Vajpayee hit the headlines for a speech he made during the violent Assam election which was fought on the foreigners’ issue, and which saw the massacre of over 2000 mostly Muslim men and women in Nellie. The BJP disowned the speech. However, thanks to the irrepressible Indrajit Gupta, who read out excerpts from it in the Lok Sabha while debating the motion of confidence moved by Mr. Vajpayee on May 28, 1996, we now know what he said. And what Mr. Vajpayee said (about foreigners being chopped into pieces) is not very different from what Varun Gandhi would say a quarter of a century later, winning universal approbation for the violent, divisive imagery he evoked.

This was not the only occasion when Mr. Vajpayee slipped into libellous language. He did so as Prime Minister. In the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, he famously asked “kisne lagayee aag? (who lit the fire?),” and went on to insinuate that Muslims cannot co-exist with non-Muslims. A hallmark of Mr. Vajpayee’s career has been his effortless ability to flip-flop between statesmanlike large-heartedness and pandering to the vile instincts of a raw swayamsevak. He rose to towering heights when he visited the Minar-e-Pakistan, when he pushed for peace with our western neighbour and when he reached out to Kashmiris. No assessment of Mr. Vajpayee can be complete without acknowledging that Kashmir held its first free and fair election under a government headed by him.

But then there is also the string of self-indicting statements — while on a visit to Staten Island in September 2000, he shared a platform with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and declared himself a swayamsevak first. Three months later, on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, he described the construction of the Ram temple as “a national sentiment” that awaited fulfilment. It was an impolitic thing to say on a day that commemorated the Masjid’s brutal end. In the Lok Sabha, Jaipal Reddy would describe the remark as the “slip of the mask.” Yet Mr. Vajpayee got away with it because with characteristic aplomb he would soon make a u-turn — handing out the assurance from distant Kumarakom that any solution to Ayodhya would have to be “peaceful and amicable.”

What sets Mr. Vajpayee apart from Mr. Advani is the former’s instinctive reaction to situations. He could change colour and tone so often and so quickly that critics would tear their hair trying to pin him down to one position. For every comment that Mr. Vajpayee made, there would be a counter comment with an escape clause.

Those who know the former Prime Minister insist that he was genuinely stricken by the enormity of December 6, 1992, and wrote out his resignation in atonement. A month into the cataclysmic climax, Mr. Vajpayee himself acknowledged the speculation, saying in witty verse, “jaaye to jaaye kahan? (where do I go?)”. And yet in March 2005, the weekly magazine Outlook produced a video recording of a speech he made in Lucknow on December 5, 1992, which captured a relaxed Mr. Vajpayee quite enjoying the prospect of karsevaks gathering in strength at Ayodhya. “Kar seva rok ne ka sawal hi nahi hai (no question of stopping the kar seva),” he asserted, adding that it was natural for people to assemble in large numbers for it.

When Mr. Advani tried the somersault, he landed on his nose. This is because he could never multi-task like his senior colleague. Mr. Advani breathed so much fire during the Ayodhya agitation that the embers virtually extinguished his career. His Jinnah Avatar did not work because his audience was not trained to accept deviations from the Ayodhya warrior. Nonetheless, history will record that Mr. Advani went where Mr. Vajpayee dared not go. Asked to resign for the Jinnah adventure, Mr. Advani lambasted the RSS: “But lately an impression has gained ground that no political or organisation decision can be taken without the consent of the RSS functionaries. This perception, we hold, will do no good either to the party [BJP] or the RSS…”

Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani come from the same stock and subscribe to a common divisive worldview. Except one was clever enough to appear different and the other tried but failed.

Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/09/stories/2009120954940800.htm