Artful Confessions

From Babri Masjid to a "disputed site" and now the "undisputed Ramjanmasthan", the nomenclature of this demolished monument seems set on a narrowing one-way street. Notwithstanding the ASI excavations under court orders to unearth the "hidden truth" in Ayodhya, or even its earlier stand that the court will decide the issue, the BJP-led NDA government in New Delhi last week did a dramatic volte face. It stated before the Liberhans Commission that yes, the site was actually the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The commission is inquiring specifically into the events that led to the mosque's demolition in December 1992. Its ambit is not to determine whether a temple once existed where the mosque stood. Constitutional experts see the unexpected 'official revelation' before Justice Liberhans as a blow to the ongoing judicial process. The BJP's allies seem unaffected by this brazen nose-thumbing at the NDA's much-trumpeted 'secular' Common Minimum Programme that clearly excludes Ayodhya from its agenda.

Union agriculture minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh feigned ignorance about the Centre's "confession". The DMK leadership refused to comment. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader in the Lok Sabha, K. Yerran Naidu, skirted the issue: "What the government says is immaterial. We all have to abide by the court's verdict."

With the Congress and the Left asking the NDA allies to make their position clear, they can only be grateful that Parliament is no longer in session and they don't have to face embarassing questions.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy, too, did not mince words. "This shows the total impotence of the NDA allies. The BJP has imposed its vicious agenda on the nation and they have wilfully accepted it. They are privy to this criminal distortion of the Indian polity," he said.

Legal experts perceive this as a reversal of all the earlier assertions made by successive governments. It creates doubts about the fate of the Ayodhya excavations being undertaken by a government agency (the ASI). "The expensive farce of the excavations becomes more doubtful when the government pre-empts its results. This is especially so because the ASI does not consist of independent professionals but government nominees. The Union of India, as a party, cannot change its position just because there is a pro-temple government at the helm of affairs. Not unless there is undeniable evidence to prove to the contrary," says eminent lawyer Rajeev Dhawan.

But BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi argues that there was never any doubt about Ayodhya being the Ramjanmasthan. "It's a matter of belief that Ayodhya is where Ram was born. And the government has stated it on the basis of available evidence and popular perception," he asserts. The Muslim side perceives the Centre's about-turn as a ploy to pressurise the archaeologists in Ayodhya. According to Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, this is a complete departure from the government's earlier submissions and creates doubts about the impartiality of the excavations. Jilani has complained to the Allahabad High Court that the ASI is deliberately not recording important findings in Ayodhya and the court has passed an order on April 10 directing the ASI to record everything that is unearthed.

As per submissions by former solicitor general Dipankar P. Gupta in the presidential reference to the Supreme Court, the government is "committed to the construction of a Ram temple and a mosque but their actual locations will be determined only after the Supreme Court renders its opinion in the presidential reference". Till now, the government has never justified the VHP's claim that a temple was demolished to build a mosque. The truth is, the Centre has spelt out its Ayodhya agenda in no uncertain terms before a judicial commission.Now, the burden of ensuring that the law of the land will be respected once again falls on the courts.