But they forgot that oxygen rusts iron. The iron man became rusty. He forgot the first rule of politics. He started shooting off his mouth. His rusty tongue gave Pakistan justification for making nuclear bombs. His rusty tongue helped Pakistan wriggle out of an agreement at the Agra summit.
His rusty judgment led him to appoint his lackey as president of the party. Before sneezing, the lackey would phone the iron man for permission. Imagine everyone's surprise therefore when the lackey said that for the next election the iron man and the PM would jointly lead his party. The PM at that time was in Europe trying to convince world leaders about India's case in Kashmir. But if the lackey were to be believed, would the PM remain PM?
The PM returned from his foreign tour. Being a simple poet, he told the press: "We are neither tired nor retired." He said this in the presence of the iron man who remained open-mouthed but speechless. The iron man realised he had goofed. The PM is now even more unreachable at the top.
The iron man left for America. He must impress his host, America's No. 2, who spends much time hiding in bunkers. Alas! Immediately after his departure, five accused in the Babri demolition case told pressmen that they had acted under orders of the iron man and his cronies. Why should leaders get treatment in court different from followers, they asked. The media will likely ignore the question. Didn't it ignore all questions in the Jain hawala case?
Our glib law minister said that the Babri case was 'political' and not criminal. Along with the demolition of the mosque, 23 Muslims were killed and several houses burnt. That's politics, isn't it? The police made two cases. One dealt with the demolition, the other with the killings and arson. Although the same mob committed both crimes after hearing the same inflammatory speeches from the same dais by the same leaders. The police said they found no evidence in the killings and arson case. They buried it. The media forgot all about it. The public forgot all about it.
But will Lord Ram forget all about it?
