Rath Yatra : Old Man In a Hurry

Dr M Faiyazuddin

L.K. Advani’s political Rath Yatra(Jan Chetna Yatra) was flagged off by Mr. Nitish Kumar amid a big crowd who ostensibly gathered to look more for a political drama played by the oldest active politician of BJP. The crowd attracted whether to support anti-corruption theme of the Yatra or to witness a high profile show can be better understood than said. Advani’s high tech bus which he deliberately calls as Rath to attach the Hindu sentiments with the Rath of Shri Krishna in Mahabharata. Rath is a holy vehicle and it is not fitting for a human being to ride on it. This ridiculous Yatra is nothing but to confuse the supporters of BJP. Is Mr. Advani really serious against corruption? If yes, why did he not lodge an FIR against his the then party Chief Mr.Bangaru Laxman when he was caught on camera taking a bribe of Rs. One Lakh? Mr. Adwani is on Rath Yatra against corruption and his party’s former Chief Minister, Mr. Yedurappa has been arrested on charges of land corruption. The motive behind this Rath yatra is not corruption rather to fix a seat for himself for future prime ministership. Old man in a hurry. This is the last chance for him so the ambition to become Prime Minister clearly manifests.

Narendra Modi undertook a three day fast for his so called communal harmony at Ahmedabad only to give a clear signal that he was also aiming for the national leadership of the BJP. Modi’s talk of Sadbhavna is like the devil quoting scriptures after having presided over the worst communal pogrom in independent India. Advani’s Rath Yatra in 1990 caused wide spread communal violence and the then Chief Minister of Bihar Mr. Laloo Prasad yadav arrested him proudly and stopped the Yatra. Mr. Nitish Kumar, though not a Minister at that time, had number two position in the then Janta Dal. Thus he was an important part of Laloo yadav’s team and defended the actions of Laloo yadav. He described Shri L K Advani as a very communal person. After the demolition of Babri Masjid, Mr. Nitish Kumar was among those who demanded the arrest of Mr. Advani. It is the irony of time that the same Nitish kumar is flagging off the Rath yatra of Mr. Advani. Nitish kumar also did not allow to campaign Narendra Modi in Bihar during the last general election of state Assembly on the grounds of his communal image. Not only this, Mr. Nitish Kumar cancelled a dinner given in the honour of BJP leaders as soon as he saw his photograph alongwith Narendra Modi in a Newspaper at the time of last Assembly election in Bihar. He wanted to give a message to the Minority Community that despite his alliance with a communal party, he was against communalism. The sudden love of Nitish Kumar for Mr. Advani may dent his hard earned reputation as a secular leader. Mr. Nitish Kumar has forgotten that Advani is one of the chargesheeted person in the Babri Masjid demolition.

The country understands the motive of  Mr. Advani, no matter how many Rath yatras he holds. He has only one aim in life i.e. to become the Prime minister of India. The BJP has admitted that senior leader LK Advani’s rath yatra has failed to evoke mass response even after getting the consent  from the RSS. Advani,  is determined to cover 23 states in two phases with breaks, wants to complete the sixth rath yatra with or without the public support. The moment it became clear that Advani was still in the fray for the prime ministerial post if the BJP is voted to power in the general elections, RSS workers distanced themselves from the yatra. Although RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had given nod to Advani’s rath yatra to create awareness against corruption, the underlying message was he should bow out of the prime ministerial race. Corruption and black money are issues that have been raised by the party during successive elections since 1995. As a result it has its limited appeal to the party cadre. The developments within the BJP in Karnataka that led to resignation for Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on charges of corruption coupled with intra-party conflicts is an embarrassing factor for Mr. Advani. Sensing the lukewarm response to his rath yatra within the BJP, Advani had to postpone his programme for Karnataka. Is this the way to fight or avoid corruption?

In 2006, Advani undertook Bharat Surakshya Yatra to highlight the failure of the Congress-led UPA government in combating terrorism. He undertook another yatra in  2004  to propagate the message that India was on the path of progress under  BJP rule.  Advani launched Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra in 1997. It was marked to commemorate the golden jubilee of India’s independence. He started Janadesh Yatra in 1993. He wanted to stop the move of Narasimha Rao govt’s attempt to ban religion from public life. He spearheaded Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 in order to pledge support for rebuilding the Ram temple in Ayodhya. And now in 2011, Jan Chetna yatra. Earlier yatras focussed on communal agenda on the front while this yatra  is aimed at corrupt practices of UPA government but has an unmistakable hidden communal agenda with next general elections in mind. I fail to understand why did Mr. Advani not start his yatra from a temple like Somenath as he has been doing earlier? Why did he chose the birth place of Jai Prakash Narayan  instead of the birth place of Sardar patel ?

 Is the stand of BJP and Advani not clear or a deliberate attempt to grab the opportunity that comes to its way? There is no ideology but to adopt any means that can provide a chance to come into power. For instance, BJP had three core issues, 1) the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya 2) Uniform Civil Code and 3) scrapping of Article 370. The public voted for this , BJP came to power but compromised with these issues. Advani always remained critical about terrorism and Pakistan. When he was the Home Minister of India he found the hands of Pakistan behind all terrorist attack in india. He even emphasized that India should not talk to Pakistan unless the latter agrees to stop terrorism in India. The people of this country believed the statements of Mr. Advani without doubt. But after some time Mr. Advani chose to visit Pakistan where he forgot what he used to say about Pakistan. L K Advani was respected by most Hindus. He too felt that the dream
of becoming prime minister could be realised only when he became
acceptable to the Muslims and allies who had Muslim support. The
visible point of his transformation from a Hindutva warrior to a
secular person was his visit to the Jinnah mausoleum in Pakistan and
his controversial remarks during a visit to Karachi in June 2005.
Advani, thus sought to become secular, as the Congress leaders have
been, for over 75 years. This required him to ignore Hindu concerns
and pain, overlook Islamic terrorism and Christian evangelism. Ironically the man who coined the term ‘pseudo-secularism’ for the
Congress, became one himself.  He not only praised Pakistan but also described Mohd. Ali Jinnah as a secular person. When he returned India he faced the wrath of RSS and his party. He was removed from the post of leader of Opposition. Thus it is quite obvious that his own party does not trust him fully. That is why this Rath Yatra is not getting a tremendous response as it got in 1990.

Advani’s  protage Arun Jaitley is supposed to have told US Ambassador that Hindutva is an opportunistic  issue ! What is more , Arun Jaitley is neither a RSS worker nor associated with BJP grassroot – but he is the opposition leader of BJP – thanks to LK Advani. LK Advani ‘s friend Jaswant singh  escorted three Mujahideen Warriors to Afghanistan during Kandahar Hijacking. He also wrote a book in praise of Mohd. Ali Jinnah.

Mr. Advani is not talking of uprooting poverty  in India forever, advance develoments in villages so much that no house is raw, made of  mud  & not having any toilet at all, there is no stray pig, there is no water scarcity, there is no village having no school, none has to pass life per day in Rs 26, none sleeps on floors, no house is free from electricity & water pipe, no family uses dried cow dung as fuel to cook food.

If Advani is really serious on the issue of corruption, then instead of yatra, he should ask all BJP-ruled states to enact legislation for appointing Lokayuktas and speak against land scam in Karnataka otherwise it is a gimmick.