Advani attempts to do a Sardar Patel, Opp not impressed

The Home Minister quoted from Muslim intellectual and Congress leader Rafiq Zakaria’s book Sardar Patel and Indian Muslims. He spoke about how Zakaria had misconstrued Patel as being anti-Muslim but had later corrected himself.

That the Home Minister was making a valiant bid to convince the sceptics thatthe ruling party and its affiliates were not what they were being made out to be became evident the moment he rose to make the speech. However, instead of impressing the Opposition, he only ended up drawing snide remarks.

Deputy Leader of the Congress Madhavrao Scindia did not lose the chance to embarrass Advani when he asked him if it was not true that he was present at the site when the Babri Masjid was brought down. “If it is true, your speech lacks credibility,” he said.

Advani mumbled that the case was sub-judice and that he did not want to talk about it, later adding that he had written an article 10 days later that December 6, 1992 was the “saddest day in my life”.

He started off by conceding that former Speaker P.A. Sangma was not wide offthe mark when he said Christians had developed a feeling of insecurity following the wave of attacks against the community. The Government had the task of removing this feeling from their minds.

“I admit there have been attacks on the community and this is bad,” he said, but then soon went back to the BJP’s pet line that incidents of communal riots had actually come down ever since the BJP-led Government assumed office.

Continuing in the same vein, he hit back at the Opposition for criticising reports submitted by the Minorities Commission — a statutory body — on the attacks on Christians in Uttar Pradesh and describing the body as a “handmaiden” of the Government.

He ignored the question put up by G.M. Banatwala of the Muslim League who sought to know why the Government was not referring to the earlier reports of the Commission before it was reconstituted.