The BJP says that the people are behind its Hindutva movement and they would be prepared to undergo any sacrifice in preserving it. The implication is that the people would rise in rebellion in case Hindutva is injured and could create problems for the other community.
But who are these ‘people’? Allahabad has witnessed riots in 1980, 1986 and 1988. During the BJP’s 6 December adventurism which culminated in the Ayodhya outrage, Allahabad was the halting point for thousands of kar sevaks who were marching to Ayodhya.
That was a sensitive situation, the police described it as hypersensitive. But those in Allahabad — Muslims as well as Hindus preserved the peace despite the provocation that was inherent in the march through that city of slogan-shouting kar sevaks.
Muslims and Hindus there were friends who believed in the nobility –the cultured nobility of communal amity. They were quite unlike the BJP hotheads and the trident-wielding, saffron-robed aggressors who had neither culture nor nobility but only bigotry.
In the predominantly Muslim area of Akbarpur, the temple of Dehla Devi stands as a testimony to Muslim goodwill. The temple was renovated by Mahmood Ahmed Ansari, Mumtaz Bai, Javed and Saeed Ahmed –all residents and small-time traders of the locality.
No wonder Allahabad with a population of one million plus remained unsullied by communal frenzy or violence in the post 6 December period. People kept the vigil and were in constant touch with the authorities to thwart any attempt at creating any type of disturbance.
When, therefore, Rehana Siddiqui, a resident of Allahabad says. “I felt sad over the demolition of Ayodhya, but more than that I feel betrayed over the breach of assurance”, every one of us should hang his or her head down in shame. Of course, Hindutva fanatics will feel no shame.
All along, there was continuous interaction between the police and the people. Advanced planning, timely action and unbiased attitude on both sides ensured uninterrupted supplies of essential Commodities. The curfew did not create problems.
In Faizabad and Ayodhya also, such goodwill between communities and between them and the police did exist until the BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal cadres injected poison in their minds and provoked violence to be responded to in violence.
These people are guilty of turning men into monsters to secure political mileage. They sinned against not only themselves but against the ideals for which Lord Ram incarnated to set an example. It is time that these Satans are exposed in their true colours to the masses.
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