BJP used Ayodhya against Mandal: VP

TNN | Nov 28, 2001, 12.31AM IST

new delhi: in his second deposition before the liberhan ayodhya commission of inquiry on tuesday former prime minister v p singh focused on many theories surrounding bjp's association with the ayodhya movement. giving his version on one of the theories, he said the bjp joined the movement not because of the shah bano affair but because of mandal. despite protests from the counsels representing different sangh parivar affiliates, he quoted at length m s golwalkar of rss to prove how closely they identified with the nazis. singh also gave to the commission a written promise from the babri masjid coordination committee (bmcc) that it will abide by any decision of the court on the question of title. this also sets at rest criticism by bjp leaders in the commission that the bmcc never made such a promise. denying advani's claim that the shah bano case triggered the bjp to take up the temple cause, singh said, ''in the shah bano case, whatever was done was done by the parliament not by direct action or threats of direct action or actual violation of the court order as was done in the case of babri masjid.'' instead, he quoted advani from christophe jaffrelot's book, saying after the mandal commission report was implemented ''they will oppose the government and take action at an appropriate time''. ''this was the dilemma before the bjp. they opposed us on an issue other than mandal. rath yatra was the answer,'' singh explained. according to singh, the bjp also saw mandal as an occasion when it could politically mobilise the upper class. also, he said, to cloud the mandal issue religious issue was the proper answer. at this point, singh dwelt at length on the concept of secularism and what sangh parivar terms pseudo-secularism. ''sangh parivar's concept of nation is of a hindu rashtra (nation) which creates 'otherness' about people belonging to other religions,'' he said. he quoted golwalkar as having said that indians should learn and profit from the german experience. on sangh parivar's ideology, singh said, ''the philosophy which has been developed over a period of time is either to deal with minorities as nazis dealt with jews or absorb them into the hindu fold.'' on being asked about the role of the pac in general and during the ayodhya movement in particular, singh admitted that the pac is ''biased'' but added that it depends on who is in command. he quoted karsevaks, from jaffrelot's book, as having said that pac jawans had a soft corner for them. singh said there is enough scope for recruiting minorities in the pac. when commission's counsel anupam gupta pointedly asked singh if he was in favour of, averse to or neutral to the ayodhya movement, the former pm replied, ''so far as it violated or intended to violate the sc order i was averse to it.''