Why Advani puts his neck on the line?
AMM Shahabuddin
L K Advani, former home minister under the last BJP government, considered as a staunch Hindu nationalist hawkish member of the Sangh-parivar, and the brain behind BJP's thrust for power, is under presume to resign. He has created history, by playing a very well-orchestrated drama during his recent sojourn in Karachi, his birth place, when he visited the mausoleum of M A Jinnah, the father of the Pakistani nation. Mr Advani, the current president of the BJP, was not on official visit to Pakistan, therefore, there was no official or protocol obligation on his part to visit the mausoleum. And he went to the extent of praising the most hated man in India (Mr Advani was reported to have discussed his whole programme with colleagues before his departure for Pakistan). But all this to the dissatisfaction of party members and detriment of his position in the party. It is an irony of circumstances that Mr Jinnah who was once given the title of "Ambassador of peace" between Hindus and Muslims by the Congress leaders, later became the father of the two-nation theory that led to the partition of India. But the circle moved in a reverse way, when Advani visited his mausoleum to pay tributes calling the man as "secular."Creates history
In fact, the most anti-Pakistan politician and renowned upholder of the saffron flag of Hindutva, Advani made a history undoubtedly, making himself larger than his size on the Indian political scenario, with his unprecedented remarks on Jinnah in Karachi, to the astonishment not only of his own home-audience but also the spectators around this region. Sincerely speaking, many of his 'Sangh-parivar' members, in agony, must be asking each other: 'Can a preacher of undivided India, enforced with the cult of Hindutva, call Jinnah 'secular'? But in diplomacy also perhaps every thing is fair, just as in love and war. And his own home constituency must have been shaken to the foundation when Mr Advani said, "Many persons find a place in history, but there are actually very few who make history. Quaid-e-Azam M A Jinnah was such a rare personality." Mr Jinnah must have turned in his grave hearing the 'rich eulogy' showered on him by Mr Advani. A "super-human"?
Advani didn't stop there. He boldly admitted his 'guilt' in demolishing the Babri Masjid when he said: "The saddest day of my life was the demolition of the Babri mosque." It is really unbelievable. Was it impulsive or just confession? Whatever, it must have exonerated him from his past wrong-doings. As they say, "To err is human, but to admit it super-human." Has he really become a "super-human" after his visit to Karachi? He has won the hearts of the majority of the people of Pakistan, no doubt. But what about his new image in India? The instant whirlwind was very dangerous. But Advani seemed to be least worried about the outcry raised by a section of BJP and Sangh-parivar members on his volte-face. He sent his resignation letter from Karachi. But later BJP leadership seemed to have calmed down with the fall in the mercury and persuaded Mr Advani to withdraw his resignation letter, which Advani was much obliged to do. But now again it seems he is really under pressure. Why putting neck on line?
Now the big question is: for whose benefit, or in whose interest, did Advani take this great risk of putting his neck on the line? Was it a political gamble that he had played to boost his party's future, throwing a big 'bait' before the Muslim voters, to capture their solid 'vote-bank' in the next general elections? Or was it a 'fixed-game,' agreed upon at a much higher-level of the party and Sangh-parivar, to make Advani play the role of a new political Messiah to wash off the dirty hands of the BJP and Sangh leadership, before facing the Muslim voters? Whatever might have motivated Advani he has played it very successfully, thereby wining the hearts of not only of the Pakistanis but also of a big chunk of his own home audience, and opened a new chapter in Indo-Pak relations with a huge investment of goodwill. He has just started the ball rolling. Where it stops and if it rebounds, only time will show. A glimpse Advani's political adventures
Meanwhile, let us have a glimpse of the veritable political character of Advani, beginning from his early days in Karachi, prior to his migration to India following the partition . Before Advani began his goodwill visit to Pakistan, the Pakistan media had opened almost an unknown or forgotten chapter of Advani's life in Karachi. According to the Pakistan press, a criminal case was still hanging against him since 1947 in a Karachi court, charging him of a conspiracy to assassinate Jinnah. It is not, however, known whether that criminal case file of Mr Advani, maintained so carefully ever the last six decades or so, has been closed now, after Advani's praise for Jinnah as well as his regret for the demolition of the Babri Mosque. Now, how the Indian Muslims will take the regret expressed by Advani whom they considered as the mastermind behind the tragic episode of Babri Masjid? A hard-nut communalist Mr Advani had always advocated for establishing a 'Hindu-raj' by marginalising the minorities, particularly the Muslims who constitute some 14 pc of total Indian population of over a billion. Hindutva appeared to be the main plank of his political philosophy. In order to advance their political move, the hardliner Hindu leadership, like Mr Advani, took shelter under the protective umbrella of BJP (Bharatya Janata Party), indeed an innocent and secular name, using it as their cloak. And it is an open secret that Sangh-parivar members, like RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, serve as the flesh and blood, even as muscle and brain, of the BJP. The great fall of BJP in the last elections was due to the communal politics followed by leaders like Advani, which was disliked and abandoned by majority of Hindu voters too. So BJP has to take a new turn to pick up its lost threads. And Advani, like a well-seasoned magician, perhaps has done it in Karachi. But the same Advani had also vowed to build (or re-build) 'Ram Mandir' at Ayodhya at the same site where Babri Masjid was built by the first Mughal Emperor Babar allegedly demolishing the Hindu temple. And the popular movement, led by the Sangh-parivar, for re-building the temple is gaining ground day by day. However, those who think that Advani's future, and that of his party he now heads, is almost gone with the whirlwind he had created during his Pakistan visit, perhaps will have to hold their breath for some time more to come to a conclusion. Advani seems to have turned a new leaf, by putting on a new role of a mixed colour of 'secular communalism'(?) or 'communal secularism'(?), and posing as a non-belligerent great peace-maker to further improve the existing 'friendly' relations between the two nuclear rivals of Asia. In fact, he has killed two birds with one stone during his visit to Karachi. Conclusion
But the big question still remains: will the Indians, specially his party followers, accept Mr Advani, rather a new Advani? If they do, then it would go down in India's history as a miracle of the 21st century. Let us wait and see till the next general elections, whether Mr Advani has really become a 'born-again' Indian leader to lead a secular India, or, is just thrown out like a rotten tomato. No doubt, Advani has very hard days ahead. A sink or swim situation for him. The people are now conscious enough to see through the gimmics of to-day's political leaders. They can't fool all the people all the time. AMM Shahabuddin is a retired UN official.
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