The struggle of people to ensure that the guilty are punished shall continue

On December 6th 1992, in full view of television cameras, and amidst heavy deployment of police forces, the Babri Masjid, a historical monument dating back to the 15th century, was destroyed by hordes of Kar Sevaks led by the top leadership of the BJP. The demolition of the Babri Masjid was proclaimed as a “victory” for “hindus” and communal passions were deliberately inflamed all over the country.

In the days and weeks that followed, thousands of people were slaughtered in state organized communal massacres, in Mumbai, Surat and many other towns of India. The majority of those killed were people of the Muslim faith.

It was clear to all that both the demolition of the Babri Masjid as well as the subsequent massacres of people were the handiwork of the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao ordered the police to keep quiet while the monument was demolished. The Congress Party, ruling in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, actually supervised the communal killings of the people of the Muslim faith. 15 years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and 15 years after the massacre of Muslims in Surat, Mumbai and other places, the guilty have not been punished. In these 15 years, these two parties have together conspired to ensure that the guilty are never punished.

10 days after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the then Congress Government of Naransimha Rao appointed a one man commission of Justice Liberhan to investigate into the circumstances of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. This Commission has had its term extended 42 times, and it has still to submit its report! In its 15 years tenure, it has questioned key figures in the Babri Masjid Demolition —Narasimha Rao, LK Advani, Kalyan Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Rajnath Singh and others. Meanwhile Anupam Gupta, the Counsel for the Commission, has disassociated himself from the report being prepared by Justice Liberhan. He has accused Justice Liberhan of being “soft” towards LK Advani and of not consulting him in preparing the report. He has accused the UPA government of not being serious in its submissions before the Commission. He also felt that the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s inaction at the time of the demolition was not being taken serious note of. From all this, it can be judged how much credibility any report submitted by this Liberhan Commission will have.

In their depositions before the Commission, all the key political figures in the demolition of the Babri Masjid have incriminated each other. All of them are guilty. All of them are responsible for the communalization and criminalization of the polity, along with their parties, the Congress and the BJP. However, precisely because organizing communal divisions and communal massacres is a preferred weapon of the Indian ruling class to rule, there is no question of the Indian state punishing the Congress party and BJP.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid and the subsequent state organized communal massacres were the cover for the Indian ruling class to launch the anti worker, anti peasant economic reforms program of globalization, liberalization and privatization. While the resistance struggle of workers and peasants and working people were deliberately paralysed by inciting communal divisions, the bourgeoisie went ahead single mindedly with its program. In these past 15 years, state terrorism, including state organized communal massacres, as well as bomb blasts, have been continually used to keep passions inflamed, people divided and paralysed.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid brought home to the Indian people their utter marginalization from political power. It brought home to the people that parties like Congress and BJP will not stop at any crime, in their pursuit of power. Subsequent events have only confirmed and reconfirmed this.

If the guilty have to be punished, if there is to be no repeat of state organized communal massacres, then parties like Congress and BJP should not be allowed to come to power. The people — the workers and peasants — must be in political power. If the people are in power, they will certainly ensure that those guilty of committing crimes against the people will be punished. If the people are in power, they will ensure that no force will dare to rouse communal passions or commit rape and murder of innocent people under any justification whatsoever.

The 15th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid is an occasion for the people to rededicate themselves to the struggle to punish the guilty by organizing to take political power in their own hands.