The Hindu : Cynical games

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 20, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Cynical games

BOTH THE CENTRE and the Madhya Pradesh Government appear determined to avoid the responsibility of a final decision on allowing Hindus to offer prayers at the Bhojshala in Dhar. The developments over the last one month betray the cynical attempts by the Union Culture Ministry, on the one side, and the State Government, on the other, to derive political mileage out of the controversy without, however, seeming partisan in their approaches. Even while reiterating the decision to allow Hindus to offer prayers from dawn to dusk on Tuesdays, the Archaeological Survey of India, under the Culture Ministry, left it to the State Government to implement the same "as and when the law and order condition permits". Thus, the Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Jagmohan, and, by extension, the BJP, was hoping to take the credit for allowing Hindus to offer prayers through the day, leaving the State Government, and, by extension, the Congress, to take the blame if things went wrong on the law and order front.

Not surprisingly, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, is unwilling to bite the bait. He wanted a clear-cut decision from the Centre on the issue, not a suggestion. Obviously, he saw no point in letting the BJP keep the political advantage from such a decision, while he dealt with the consequences on the law and order situation. The Madhya Pradesh Government had recommended that worship in the temple be allowed for only two hours, but in the absence of a consensus passed the onus onto the Centre. As the responsibility for the law and order situation lies with the State, the Madhya Pradesh Government would not want to do anything that could invite trouble. After all, it was the district administration which sought restrictions on access to the Bhojshala following law and order problems in 1997. But, when the Hindu Jagran Manch and the BJP sought to make political capital of the restrictions on entry into the Bhojshala, Mr. Singh changed tack and declared he would not object if the Centre issued a directive allowing unrestricted entry. With the BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti, claiming that the Union Ministry had permitted free entry into the temple, and that only the State Government was standing in the way, the issue grew beyond questions of rights of worship to include a vicious game of political rivalry. And, as is to be expected in an Assembly election year, the Centre and the State Government are trying to shift the responsibility to one another.

However, while the State Government, following an all-party meeting on February 19, recommended that the Bhojshala could be opened for prayers on Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., the Centre thought it fit to modify the same to suggest prayers from sunrise to sunset. Though touted as a small modification, what is at stake is political mileage to be had from arousing religious sentiments on the issue. A mere endorsement of the State Government recommendation would have meant no political benefit to the BJP. All the credit would have gone to the Digvijay Singh Government. At the same time, the Centre and the BJP did not want to be held responsible for any consequential law and order problems. This explains why the modification of the Madhya Pradesh Government fell short of a directive as demanded by Mr. Singh. As for the State Government, after denying it had any objection to following any Central directive on easing restrictions, the task was to retain some political mileage without getting into a bind on the law and order front.

Importantly, the original restrictions too were the result of an agreement between representatives of Hindus and Muslims. But, in the present case, representatives of the two communities have been unable to arrive at a consensus on the demand for lifting restrictions. Election year or not, Bhojshala has become a sensitive area in the post-Babri Masjid demolition phase. With Hindu extremist organisations linked to the VHP deliberately making the Bhojshala the focus of a new Hindu-Muslim conflict, there are clear dangers in letting electoral politics dictate the course of action of the Centre or the State Government.

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