The Hindu : Obligations under Art. 355 will be fulfilled: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 07, 2002

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Obligations under Art. 355 will be fulfilled: Advani

By Harish Khare

New Delhi May 6. The Central Government today committed itself in the Rajya Sabha to do its "best'' to fulfil the obligation cast upon it by Article 355 to protect "the lives and properties of the citizens'' in Gujarat. This commitment was made by the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, on the final day of the Rajya Sabha debate on a motion that expressed "anguish at the persistence of violence'' and "urged'' the Central Government to "intervene effectively'' in the restoration of law and order and to provide relief and rehabilitation in Gujarat.

The motion, moved by the senior Congress leader, Arjun Singh, was adopted unanimously after the ruling party — which does not enjoy majority in the upper House — decided to cut its losses and agreed to support the resolution. And though the wording of the motion does not amount a direct criticism of the Gujarat Government, the two-day debate nonetheless produced an unambiguous indictment of the Narendra Modi regime. Even the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani appeared to be keen on not protesting too loudly in defence of the Modi regime. The Opposition, on its part, left the Government in no doubt that it would continue to hold the Centre answerable for discharging its "duty'' under Article 355.

Mr. Vajpayee even went to the extent of disclosing that on the eve of the BJP's national executive meeting last month in Goa, serious thought was given to sacking Mr. Modi as Chief Minister. However, the party leadership's internal "assessment'' was that Mr. Modi's removal would probably mean a "worsening'' of the situation. More significantly, Mr. Vajpayee seemed to suggest — as did Mr. Advani a little later — that the "sack Modi'' option was still an available option.

In addition, Mr. Vajpayee ruled out the possibility of an early election to the Gujarat assembly, an implicit snub for those within the BJP who had been wanting to encash electorally the presumed "consolidation'' that has taken place in the wake of anti-minority violence.

Both Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani, again, described the Gujarat violence as "reprehensible'' and "shameful'' and a "blot'' (the Prime Minister) and "barbaric'' and "uncivilized'' (Home Minister). The Prime Minister was categorical that "Ahmedabad'' could not be the answer to "Godhra''. He reiterated his Government's commitment to the rule of law and expressed his faith in the inevitable triumph of democratic values and ideas over fundamentalism of all hues.

Speaking after the Prime Minister, Mr. Advani was rather insistent that "Article 355'', in his view, did not necessarily mean an inevitable drift towards Article 356 ( imposition of the President's rule). Relying on the Sarkaria Commission, he argued that Article 355 imposed a "duty'' on the Centre, and that this Constitutional provision was "not against the State'' but it was "meant to protect the State'', whereas Article 356 was clearly an "adversarial'' provision.

Mr. Advani made it clear that he disapproved of the post-Godhra violence. He suggested that he had been telling his people that it was about time to put an end to the violence as it was bound to complicate the country's larger fight against terrorism. He, in fact, hinted that the intelligence agencies had "intercepted'' messages from terrorist groups in Kashmir to some unknown persons to keep fomenting violence in Gujarat.

Mr. Advani found himself in a spot when the Opposition benches wanted his response to the VHP leader, Ashok Singhal's reported approval of "Hindu'' violence. Mr. Advani said: "Let me say categorically the Government strongly condemns and disassociates itself'' from the Singhal statement. But the Opposition was unwilling to let Mr. Advani off the hook, and extracted a vague commitment that "action would be taken'' (against Mr. Singhal).

The Government clearly spared itself an embarrassment by agreeing to pass unanimously Arjun Singh's motion, but it side-stepped the Opposition attempts to make it spell out what possible steps it could take under Article 355 in Gujarat. While the Prime Minister said that the "K.P.S. Gill mission'' was "a step towards directing'' the Gujarat Government, Mr. Advani ignored Dr. Manmohan Singh's pinpointed query in the matter.

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