Prime Minister Vajpayee did not seek confrontation. Confrontation sought him. The moment of reckoning has arrived. Till now the PM rode two horses. He ...
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad could not be more explicit. It announced defiance of the rule of law. It said its will must prevail. It anointed itself as the sole spokesman of Hindus. It said the Ram temple must be built according to its own agenda and after its own manner.
It served an ultimatum on society. It threw a challenge to the Indian Republic. The date set for starting temple construction is irrelevant. The VHP's fascist intent has been revealed. No government worth its name can allow this organisation to function. Along with its adjuncts like the Bajrang Dal, it must be banned. Its accounts must be frozen. Its funding must be investigated.
What is at stake is not law and order. At stake is the identity of India. The government and the people must decide: is India democratic and pluralist? Or is it Hindu and fascist?
Even the RSS must decide. Today its marginalised leaders sulk in obscurity. The Frankenstein's monster created by them has taken over. The VHP is ready to devour its parent organisation. It has vast funds. It has international ties. It is a monstrous Fifth Column. It is a missile out of control.
RSS leaders were narrow-minded and communal. But they were not criminal. In their own distorted fashion they were committed to the nation. Their priorities were twisted but their intentions were patriotic.
The VHP is criminal and corrupt. It serves the interests of hostile foreign forces. Its funding and the international links of its leaders require investigation to ensure national security.
On August 30, 1998, the Shankaracharya of Puri told The Indian Express that the VHP must publish a public audit of its huge funds—"perhaps in billions"—and that Ashok Singhal was not alert to the infiltration of the VHP by the ISI. The Shankaracharya too speaks for Hindus.
India has to choose. It can rediscover the soul of Hindustan. Or it can summon the demons of Hindutva. What will you choose, prime minister?
The time has come, the walrus said,
To talk of many things,
Of what we were and what we are
And who should rule as kings.