Sorry too late?

Politically savvy Kalyan Singh, the BJP bigwig who left the party in a huff, clearly believes that the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, when he was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, still has strong emotional resonance for Muslim voters, since he has now both morally and totally apologised for the destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya.

There is a blatant cynicism here, even in this graded apology. No one will have forgotten that it was the sustained Ram Janmabhoomi movement that led to the demolition of the mosque or that Kalyan Singh had assured the Centre that the structure was safe just before it was brought down by kar sevaks. To come out with this apology, on the eve of the coming general elections is obviously opportunistic.

However, this is a significant apology, whatever its motivations. This is the first time a member of the BJP — albeit a former one — has owned responsibility for the demolition. All earlier expressions of regret have just fallen short of apologising. But will this benefit the Samajwadi Party? “Maulana” Mulayam Singh Yadav had built up a constituency with Muslim leaders who were disenchanted with their traditional patron Congress in the post-Babri Masjid demolition years.

It is this constituency of Muslims leaders that the Samajwadi Party is now in danger of losing and in the complex and dubious caste and communal arithmetic that every party and politician follows in this country, alienating Muslim leaders could make a difference.
Yet, Kalyan Singh may have read the situation poorly.

While, Muslim leaders are willing to play the communal card to exert political clout, the majority of Muslims are gripped by mundane matters like education, jobs and security. The destruction of the mosque is not exactly at the top of the mind for most, though it does not mean that they have completely forgotten it. They may well rather veer to someone who can promise them the necessities of life along with the basic security that every citizen expects and should get.

UP’s leaders are caught in a deadlock which will vitiate the atmosphere in the volatile and backward state. People threw out BJP-led NDA in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections because the benefits of economic liberalisation did not reach them. It is likely that the same issues will dominate in 2009. Kalyan Singh’s late and graded apology may take him only so far.