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Journalism of Courage
A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. But when it comes to that of Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati embracing in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, the words differ completely depending on which of the two Cabinet ministers is speaking.
This was clear at Joshi’s deposition before the Liberhan Commission today when the HRD Minister claimed that the photograph, which shows Bharti putting her arms over his shoulders and clasping his hands, was clicked when she was actually trying to ‘‘touch my feet from behind.’’
This raised eyebrows because nothing in the photo suggests the possibility of her touching his feet. If anything, Bharati’s head is above Joshi’s and as she clasps his hands just below his chin, the two are gazing at something at a distance in the front.
Joshi’s version is also at odds with Bharati’s memory of the photo. When she was quizzed about it last year by the Commission’s counsel, Anupam Gupta, Bharati had said the photo was shot when Joshi, who was then the BJP president, was sitting on a dais called the Ram Katha Kunj Manch (overlooking the Babri Masjid) and she greeted him by putting her arms on his shoulders. Bharati also said that Joshi apparently mistook her for his daughter and asked, ‘‘Munia, is that you?’’
Interestingly, though Joshi confirmed the authenticity of the photo, he asserted that no photographer was present. And that the photo must have been shot from some other building.
Gupta pointed out that the photo taken by Gwalior-based Kedar Jain appears too ‘‘clear, direct and close’’ to have been shot from another building.
‘‘I don’t know how he did it,’’ Joshi replied. ‘‘Photographers have their own techniques.’’
But one thing common to the two differing versions of the photograph is that both Joshi and Bharati sought to dispel the reports that it shows them celebrating the demolition. The demolition began at noon and went on for five hours. The two ministers maintained that the photo was taken earlier in the morning.
The exact timing and circumstances however vary. Bharati said the photo was clicked soon after she climbed the dais at 9 am and approached Joshi, who, according to her, was already sitting there. On the other hand, Joshi said that he reached there only around 11 am and the photo was taken when Bharati greeted him.
Joshi also sought to ward off all questions about what went on at the dais during the demolition. He said he knew nothing because he went downstairs to a room along with L K Advani at 2.15 pm and, because of security restraints the two could not come out of there till as late as 6.30 pm.
This contradicts Advani’s deposition that he was very much on the dais when the second and third domes fell and that he went down twice briefly to make phone calls to Kalyan Singh in Lucknow. And even to make those phone calls, Advani never said he was accompanied by Joshi.
