Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan on the Seventeenth Anniversary of the Destruction of Babri Masjid
It is the first anniversary that has occurred after the submission of the Lieberhan Commission report to the Government, a commission of enquiry that has sat for the longest time in this period. The Lok Raj Sangathan (LRS) once again roundly condemns the savage act of barbarism and all the criminal minds that planned and executed this deed, all the organs of the state that were involved at all levels. It extends its sympathies to all the victims who lost their life and limb, to all the survivors of the horrific organized massacres that followed this vicious act.
To recognize and learn that the conspiracy was hatched at the highest levels hardly required a Commission of Enquiry to sit for sixteen years: the presence of the leaders of the BJP, their statements before, during and after the events, those of the Chief Minister, and the supposed incompetence of the Congress Government of Mr. Narasimha Rao were there for everyone to see. The shrill propaganda before the event in the mainstream media could hardly have occurred without the participation of big moneyed interests and the political parties. The logistics for getting the hordes and the lynch mobs could have hardly escaped so-called security agencies: there is much to suggest that the state organs themselves were involved in the organizing of this crime. Thus the central points of the leaked report of the Lieberhan Commission are hardly a surprise to any student of the events of that day. In fact, the proof that there is the complicity of the state agencies is that no one has been brought to book so far, and no one will, with or without the Commission report. Indeed, it may be recalled that these events took place at a time of a vast reorganization in the economic sphere in the country under the programme of liberalization and privatization, and at a time at which the leading political parties were vying with one another to be the fountainhead of the political process that would serve the beneficiaries of these changes.
Indeed, the vast resistance that was gathering against these policies was submerged in the ocean of blood and splintered the resistance. While the central aim of the violence was to divide the people and set them at each other’s throats rather than to organize themselves to recognize who their common enemy is and how to empower themselves, the event also gave an opportunity for the major political parties to demonstrate their enthusiasm and eagerness to serve the cause of their masters and for each to show how depraved and craven they were, and to demonstrate how far they were willing to go to attack the masses and crush their resistance that was sure to arise.
The Committee for People’s Empowerment which is now the LRS was born in this crucible. Responding to the acute crisis that manifested itself in atrocious violence, the LRS has maintained that the ruling circles in India are the real purveyors of violence. Violence is an important tool in their arsenal of control and perpetuation of their rule which is deeply undemocratic and inimical to the interests of most of the population of the country. Having recognized this, the LRS has believed that it is only when the power passes into the hands of the people that broad violence will come to an end. No justice will be accorded to the victims of events such as the post-Babri Masjid events until the people come to power. It is only by deliberating on the question of power in modern India that we can bring justice to the victims of all the atrocities of modern day India.
The seventeenth anniversary of the Babri Masjid destruction offers an opportunity for all those involved in the struggle for justice and dignity to deliberate on these questions. All truly patriotic forces must participate in this struggle.
CONDEMN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BABRI MASJID!
ALL THE CRIMINALS INVOLVED IN THIS MUST BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!
AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL!
FORWARD WITH THE MOVEMENT FOR LOK RAJ!
