The Ayodhya Files

R(andom) A(ccess) M(emory)
The BJP is convinced that returning to the temple plank is its only way out in the state
Magazine | Nov05,2001

This Way To Ayodhya
With the usual suspects missing, is it Track II politics or electoral maths guiding Vajpayee's Ayodhya 'initiative'?
Magazine | Sep10,2001

The Temple Of Doom
The spectre of a crushing defeat haunts the BJP, compelling it to strike desperate alliances
Magazine | Jun25,2001

Thought Experiment
In the backdrop of the electoral gloom and Vajpayee's obduracy, the RSS frets over its declining influence
Magazine | May28,2001

Dome of Darkness
The Allahabad High Court cites a technicality, but the criminal cases against Advani & Co. aren't over yet
Magazine | Feb26,2001

The Trumpcard Jokers
The VHP's dharam sansad has resurrected Ram, but will it fetch electoral dividends for the BJP?
Magazine | Feb05,2001

"The Temple Is Another VHP Stunt"
Magazine | Feb05,2001

Judgement Day's Burden
The Muslim leadership fights delayed justice, but will a court's verdict mend the tattered fabric?
Magazine | Jan29,2001

Ayodhya: The Legal Wrangle
Tracing the genealogy of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute as also its chronological progress through the law of our land

The Debris Of Consensus
The pro-Babri leadership, riven along degrees of flexibility, now grapples with a looming crisis
Magazine | Jan22,2001

The Epic Of Doublespeak
Keeping the NDA on an even keel, as well as his professed faith, Vajpayee works the spectacle of a tightrope act
Saba Naqvi Bhaumik
Magazine | Jan15,2001

Everyone's Ayodhya
There's abundant historical sense in building both a mandir and a masjid at the site. Tradition provides justification, as does the spirit everyone lived by
Magazine | Jan08,2001.

An Idol Trapped
Debate rages over whether the PM's statements furthered the BJP at the cost of his image
Magazine | Jan08,2001.

Musings From Kumarakom
The Prime Minister spent his year-end vacation at Kumarakom Resort on the famous backwaters of Kerala from December 26, 2000 to January 1, 2001. Two articles that came out of that visit are reproduced here.
Web | Jan03,2001

The PM's Afternoon Raga
Vajpayee's 'Ram dhun' delights his cadre, confuses the allies and could begin a process of political meltdown
Magazine | Dec25,2000

Ram Mandir On Full Throttle
Magazine | Dec25,2000

The Second Coming Of Lord Ram
Vajpayee's about-turn delights the cadre and stuns the new-found friends.
Saba Naqvi Bhaumik
Magazine | Dec18,2000

'Solid' Evidence Against Advani
The Liberhan Commission can now nail the Babri accused even if they don't appear before it
Magazine | Dec18,2000

Chronology Of Events: Centuries-Old Problem
Magazine | Dec18,2000

Mistake Of A Lifetime
Mr Vajpayee is not a great thinker or a bold innovator...His sole virtue in this kaliyug, is his "image". That has been incalculably damaged.
Vinod Mehta
Magazine | Dec18,2000

The Sardar Trapped
The Liberhan noose tightens around Advani
Magazine | Dec18,2000

The Case Against Advani
Excerpts from the 9 Sept, 1997 order of Jagdish Prasad Srivastava, Additional Session Judge (Ayodhya episode) Lucknow trying the Babri Masjid demolition case:
Magazine | Dec18,2000

Stirring The Cauldron
The PM's Ram temple statements fans communal flames in UP
Sutapa Mukherjee
Magazine | Dec18,2000

Hindutva Unlearnt
The saffron brigade's month-long door-to-door campaign is rebuffed in its own bastion

Season Of Bad Blood
The RSS' minority-baiting is a double-edged sword-coerce minorities and blackmail the BJP
Magazine | Oct30,2000

Rss Dumping The Bjp: "It's For The Future To Tell"
In an exclusive interview to Outlook at the Agra mahashivir, RSS joint general secretary Madan Das Devi articulates the view that giving up the Hindutva agenda would be disastrous for the BJP.

Footsoldier Fetish
With assembly elections due soon in UP, the RSS tries to regroup to save the saffron flag

The Itinerary Of Ideas
If Vajpayee was The Mask, he was The Voice who said so. Now his bosses want him only as a safety valve on the side.
Magazine | Sep18,2000

Three Men And A Cradle
The ‘token Muslims’ of the BJP are a mixed bag of odd lots
Magazine | Sep18,2000

Papa Won't Preach
Forget Golwalkar. The Sangh backs the pro-Muslim noises but doesn’t know how to say so.
Magazine | Sep18,2000

'The Term Hindu Encompasses All'
Madan Das Devi, joint general secretary of the RSS, says that the new approach of the BJP vis-a-vis the Muslims could be a historical turning point. He told Outlook in an interview the BJP's new approach doesn't imply a dilution of Hindutva ideology. At the same time, he also emphasised that in the RSS lexicon the term Hindu is not going to be replaced with Indian or Bharatiya.

The Law And Its Delays
The long arm of the law just isn't long enough. And Thackeray has again gotten away more lightly than one could imagine.
Magazine | Aug14,2000

Signs Of Mortality
Maybe only an old protege could have done it - taming Thackeray when he was most vulnerable
Magazine | Jul31,2000

'We Will See This Arrest Through'
Critics label Maharashtra deputy CM and home minister Chhagan Bhujbal's action against Thackeray as politics of revenge. Speaking to Outlook, Bhujbal avows he's being fair. No politics. No personalities. Only the keeping of a promise made to people.
Magazine | Jul31,2000

Rule Of The Mob?
If Vajpayee knuckles down to the Sena, he might as well hold a sign saying that India is no longer under the rule of law.
Magazine | Jul31,2000

'Ayodhya Visit Was Imperative'
The recently-installed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta has been in the eye of a storm over his comments on the the state government's-indeed the BJP's-stand on building a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Even as his predecessor Kalyan Singh was in Delhi gleefully pointing to the contradictions in the party's stand on the issue and doing his utmost to play up the Vajpayee-Advani "rift`, Gupta took time off from his hectic schedule to tell Sutapa Mukerji his version of what he had said.

A Slow Demolition
The BJP braces to ride out the gathering storm aided by a legal logjam and a split Opposition
Magazine | Dec20,1999

'I'll Go To Jail If It Comes To That'
Union home minister L.K. Advani, the most prominent of the three central ministers chargesheeted in the Ayodhya demolition case, defends himself in an interview with Ishan Joshi.
Magazine | Dec20,1999

Just Twelve Witnesses In Seven Years
Lack of cooperation from politicians, officials means the Liberhan Commission was dead on arrival
Magazine | Dec20,1999

A Lawful Deference
December 22 is the next summons. Will justice finally be allowed a complete quorum?
Magazine | Dec13,1999

‘The Mandir Is Dearer To Us Than Life’
Ousted UP CM Kalyan Singh spoke to Outlook.Excerpts:
Magazine | Nov22,1999

Rendezvous With Rama
Come the millennium, the dharma sansad plans Ayodhya, part two
Magazine | Feb15,1999

Who's Afraid Of The BJP?
A belligerent saffron brigade goes full throttle ahead with aggressive Hindutva
Magazine | Feb15,1999

The Testimonies Nail The Sena...
Activists dig out cases from the report to slam the Sena—and the Kalachowky episodes belie the police claim of neutrality
Magazine | Aug24,1998

The Three Musketeers
Three women journalists who doggedly followed the Commission
Magazine | Aug24,1998

A Slur On The Judiciary
Judges unanimously condemn the rejection of the Srikrishna report by the Sena government
Magazine | Aug 24, 1998

But 61% Feel Sena Is Blame-Free
SOFRES-MODE Poll in Mumbai
Magazine | Aug24,1998

Offence As Defence

Unrepentant as ever, a strident Bal Thackeray rubbishes the Srikrishna panel findings
Magazine | Aug 17, 1998

Judge Impartial

An outcry in defence of Justice Srikrishna is provoked by the political backlash
Magazine | Aug 17, 1998

Waving The Saffron Flag

Thackeray may use the report to whip up Hindu sympathy
Magazine | Aug 17, 1998

Extracts
Magazine | Aug 17, 1998

Fifty Years, And Still Adjourned
The courts are far from resolving the Ayodhya title deed dispute
Magazine | Jun 29, 1998

"No legislation against verdict"
Endorsing the prime minister's assurance to Parliament, Union home minister L.K. Advani is clear that for the government, there is no question of legislation on the Ayodhya issue to nullify an adverse court verdict. But he does concede that the BJP has been articulating a different stand.
Magazine | Jun 29, 1998

Reinventing Ayodhya
Vajpayee's word on the temple runs contrary to BJP instincts
Magazine | Jun 22, 1998

A Prefab Home For The Lord
The Centre swears by status quo, but the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's temple plans proceed apace
Magazine | Jun 15, 1998

"No Power Can Stop Us"
While the carving of stone for the Ram temple goes full swing at Ayodhya, the VHP once againmakes it clear that "no power on earth, including the judiciary, can stop the construction of a Ram temple". The claim can't be dismissed as rhetoric, the Babri Masjid was demolished despite the Sangh parivar's assurances to the Supreme Court. VHP secretary-general Acharya Giriraj Kishore speaks to Outlook about their plans.
Magazine | Jun 15, 1998

Like Jain, Like Liberhans
The commission probing the Ayodhya demolition is near-ready with a damning report
Magazine | May 25, 1998

A Specious Distinction
Chargesheets in the Ayodhya case cannot be dismissed as politically motivated
Magazine | May 04, 1998

Friends Of Saffron
The Congress—progenitor of Ayodhya—has often had sympathisers for the Cause
Ranjit Bhushan
Magazine | Apr 27, 1998

27 Shades Of Shame
In the rogue's gallery of the 12th Lok Sabha are criminal MPs, dons and the Ayodhya accused
Magazine | Mar 23, 1998

BJP
Beating Vajpayee To Pulp
BJP hardliners are as rigid as ever—espousing Hindutva and spewing hatred for Muslims
Magazine | Feb 16, 1998

"The BJP Is Not Going To Give Up On Ram Mandir"
The BJP manifesto where the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, Article 370 and a common civil code figure prominently—is proof that the party's "moderate voice" was shortlived. And though the RSS denies it played a role in shaping the "hardline" manifesto, its joint general secretary Madan Das tells Rajesh Joshi that it was wrong to think the BJP would give up its "basic agenda". Excerpts:
Magazine | Feb 16, 1998

"Heavens Are Not Going To Fall If I Visit Ayodhya"
After a 'smooth' transfer of power in UP, indications are that it is going to be a bumpy ride for BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh. He spoke to Outlook on issues ranging from Mayawati to the mandir.
Magazine | Oct 06, 1997