The other side of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 3 instances

The other side of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 3 instances

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was dubbed as the mask of the BJP for his liberal and moderate outlook. But his critics point out instances where Vajpayee let the mask slip. Three such instances are recounted here

Prabhash K Dutta

New Delhi

August 24, 2018UPDATED: August 25, 2018 05:19 IST

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/the-other-side-of-atal-bihari-vajpayee-3-instances-1322548-2018-08-24

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was dubbed as the mask of the BJP

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died on August 16 at 93. (Photo: India Today Archive)

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Vajpayee gave a controversial speech ahead of Nellie massacre in Assam.

2. Vajpayee spoke about leveling the ground before Babri demolition.

3. In 2002, Vajpayee said Muslims don't like to live in co-existence.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former prime minister and tallest leader of the BJP till date, was dubbed as the mask of the party. The comment was attributed to RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya, who earlier this month said that he had actually called Atal Bihari Vajpayee the face of the BJP. Vajpayee, who died on August 16, was considered a "moderate" and "liberal" in a "Hindu nationalist" party. The sobriquet of mask remained attached with him.

Vajpayee's intermittent utterances having communal tinge are cited as proof by his opponents. Three instances are, in particular, of interest. The BJP was formed in 1980 after the fall of Janata Party. The erstwhile members of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh founded the Bharatiya Janata Party with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as president.

Three years later as Assam was going into Assembly polls. Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a controversial speech at an election rally in Assam hitting out at illegal migrants in the state.

Nellie Massacre and Vajpayee

Nellie massacre took place in (18) February 1983. Nellie is located in Morigaon district of Assam. More than 2,000 (2,191) people were killed. Almost all were Bengali Muslims. Assam was preparing for polls and Vajpayee, as the BJP president, was campaigning in the state.

In one of his speeches, Vajpayee was quoted as saying, "Foreigners have come here and the government does nothing. What if they had come into Punjab instead? People would have chopped them into pieces and thrown them away." Atal Bihari Vajpayee was quoted by former CPI-M MP Indrajit Gupta during a debate on trust vote moved by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May, 1996. The attributed portion of speech went uncontested in the Lok Sabha.

Soon after his speech violence erupted in Nellie. Vajpayee had returned to New Delhi after his speech in Assam. In New Delhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee condemned Nellie massacre.

Babri Mosque Demolition and Vajpayee

Mughal era Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was brought down by kar sevaks on 6th December 1992. The kar sevaks had assembled in Ayodhya for a show of strength as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP campaigned for building a Ram temple there. On December 5 - a day ahead of the Babri Masjid demolition, Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave a speech at Lucknow saying that there was no question of stopping kar seva at Ayodhya even as situation had turned tense and a mishap was not ruled out.

Referring to the site where the VHP and BJP proposed to build a Ram temple, Vajpayee said, "Sharp and pointed stones have come out. No one can sit there. The ground has to be leveled. It has to be made fit for sitting. Arrangements for a yagya will be done, so there will be some construction."

The Babri Masjid was demolished the next day. Vajpayee, now back in New Delhi, termed the day of Babri Masjid demolition as "the saddest day of my life". At one point, he clarified that his comment in Lucknow as made in lighter vein and was not a prediction about demolition of the mosque.

Post-Gujarat Riot Speech At Goa

Gujarat saw one of the worst communal riots in 2002. The riots broke out following a train burning incident at Godhra, where kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive. The Godhra incident occurred on February 27. Communal riots broke out the next day in various parts of Gujarat. Violence continued for three days and hundreds of people were killed.

Demand for removal of the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was raised from various quarters - both within and outside of the BJP. At one of the press conferences, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee advised Modi to "follow Rajadharma" (the duty of state). It became the headline in news media. But in the same press conference, after an interjection by Modi, Vajpayee said that the chief minister was "doing the same".

Later, at the BJP national council meet on 12 April 2002, Vajpayee said, "we should not forget how the tragedy of Gujarat started. The subsequent developments were no doubt condemnable but who lit the fire? How did the fire spread?"

Vajpayee went on to say, "Wherever Muslims live, they don't like to live in co-existence with others, they don't like to mingle with others; and instead of propagating their ideas in a peaceful manner, they want to spread their faith by resorting to terror and threats. The world has become alert to this danger."

But the same Atal Bihari Vajpayee also told Parliament only a month later: "I accept the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda but the type of Hindutva being propagated now is wrong and one should be wary of it."

'Wherever Muslims Live...': Text of Vajpayee's Controversial Goa Speech, April 2002

The speech generated a huge controversy in April 2002 not just because of its inflammatory contents but also because Vajpayee tried to mislead parliament by claiming an edited version issued by the PMO was the actual text.

'Wherever Muslims Live...': Text of Vajpayee's Controversial Goa Speech, April 2002

File photo of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Credit: PTI

The Wire Staff

The Wire Staff

COMMUNALISMPOLITICS

17/AUG/2018

Speech delivered by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Goa, April 12, 2002

https://thewire.in/communalism/vajpayees-goa-speech-april-2002

I was in Cambodia just recently. It is the Kamboj state of the past, where magnificent temples that kissed the sky were built in the tenth and the eleventh centuries. It had Hindu states ruled by Hindu kings. There were others too among the citizens, but there was justice towards all. Sometimes the kings also used to fight among themselves. The wheel of victory and defeat rolled on. But during their centuries’ long history there isn’t a single instance of a Hindu king destroying temples or breaking idols when he attacked another Hindu king. The kings who were victorious used to build a new temple. If Vishnu was being worshipped there earlier, later Shiva began to be worshipped. If Shiva was being worshipped at one time, then other deities began to be worshipped later. Nevertheless, no king destroyed a temple or damaged the deities’ idols at the time of attacking another king. This is our culture. This is our outlook, which treats all faiths equally.

Yet, accusations are being hurled today that secularism is under threat. Who are these people accusing us? What is the meaning of secularism for these people? India was secular when Muslims hadn’t come here and Christians hadn’t set foot on this soil. It is not as if India became secular after they came. They came with their own modes of worship and they too were given a place of honour and respect. They had the freedom to worship God as per their wish and inclination. No one thought of converting them with force, because this is not practiced in our religion; and in our culture, there is no use for it.

Today the 100 crore people of India are engaged in creating their future on the basis of their own culture. Sometimes, minor incidents do take place here and there sometimes they take the form of major incidents. But if you go to the root of these incidents, you will find intolerance, you’ll find them to be a manifestation of growing intolerance. What happened in Gujarat? If a conspiracy had not been hatched to burn alive the innocent passengers of the Sabarmati Express, then the subsequent tragedy in Gujarat could have been averted. But this did not happen. People were torched alive. Who were those culprits? The government is investigating into this. Intelligence agencies are collecting all the information. But we should not forget how the tragedy of Gujarat started. The subsequent developments were no doubt condemnable, but who lit the fire? How did the fire spread? Ours is a multi-religious country, a multi-lingual country, we have many different modes of worship. We believed in peaceful and harmonious co-existence. We believe in equal respect for all faiths. Let no one challenge India’s secularism. I have read somewhere in newspapers that the Congress Party has decided not to try to topple my Government. Shall I thank them for this? Or shall I say that the ‘Grapes are sour’? How will the Government fall? Once they did topple it, but they couldn’t form one themselves. Then a fresh mandate from the people was called for, and the people once again gave us an opportunity to serve them.

For us the soil of India from Goa to Guwahati is the same, all the people living on this land are the same. We do not believe in religious extremism. Today the threat to our nation comes from terrorism. Wherever I went around the world, the heads of state or of elected governments complained to me that the militant Islam is sowing thorns along their paths. Islam has two facets. One is that which tolerate others, which teaches its adherents to follow the path of truth, which preaches compassion and sensitivity. But these days, militancy in the name of Islam leaves no room for tolerance. It has raised the slogan of Jehad. It is dreaming of recasting the entire world in its mould.

You will be surprised to hear this—indeed, I too was surprised—that some terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda were arrested in Singapore. The rulers of Singapore couldn’t even have imagined that Al-Qaeda would be active in their country, too; that Al-Qaeda would hatch a conspiracy in Singapore too. Some fifteen or sixteen persons were arrested, an investigation is underway, which will reveal the truth. The same is happening in Indonesia. The same is happening in Malaysia.

Wherever Muslims live, they don’t like to live in co-existence with others, they don’t like to mingle with others; and instead of propagating their ideas in a peaceful manner, they want to spread their faith by resorting to terror and threats. The world has become alert to this danger.

As far as we are concerned, we have been fighting against terrorism for the past 20 years. Terrorists have tried to grab Jammu and Kashmir through violence, but we have countered them. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, and will forever remain so. No other country’s dream will ever, come true. Now other nations in the world have started to realize what a great mistake they did by neglecting terrorism. Now they are waking up, and are organizing themselves. They are putting together an international consensus against terrorism.

We tell them through our own example that a large number of non-Hindus live in our country, but there has never ever been religious persecution here. We have never discriminated between ‘our people’ and ‘aliens’. The modes of worship may differ, but God is one. Only the paths to reach Him and realize Him can be different. It is for this reason that India’s prestige is growing, India’s reputation is rising. I have also had an occasion to visit many other countries. Everywhere Muslims live in large numbers. And the rulers in those countries are worried lest those Muslims embrace extremism, We told them that they should educate people on the true tenets of Islam, that they should also teach other subjects in madrasas. Islam too should be taught, but emphasise that people should live together and that it is necessary to accept that faith cannot be propagated on the strength of the sword.

Note: This is the English text of the speech delivered in Hindi, by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Goa on April 12, 2002, checked against the audio original. This text was published in Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy (Penguin, 2002), edited by Siddharth Varadarajan.

The official English version released by the PMO which added the word “such” after “Wherever” and before “Muslims”  in the first sentence of the third last paragraph may be accessed here.