WE are going to press on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the wanton destruction of the Babri Masjid.This destruction was not merely the demolition of one building, or, an Islamic religious structure alone.It symbolised the efforts to destroy the edifice of the modern secular democratic republic of India that emerged over a century-long epic struggle for India’s freedom and modernity.While shedding crocodile tears, the RSS/BJP have all along claimed that this destruction was the result of a spontaneous `anger’ of the kar sevaks assembled there.

WHEN the RSS decided to project the Gujarat chief minister as the BJP’s prime ministerial aspirant, these columns had said that this signalled that the RSS/BJP has finally abandoned its need for a mukhota to mask its real intentions behind a democratic façade. It signalled that the RSS has gone beyond the need for people like a Vajpayee. Importantly, this signalled that the RSS is back to its bases – seeking the transformation of the secular democratic Indian Republic into its version of a rabidly intolerant fascistic `Hindu Rashtra’.

THE 16th meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) was held in the aftermath of the horrendous communal disturbances in Muzaffarnagar and in the backdrop of the continuing tensions in western Uttar Pradesh. The Resolution adopted unanimously, amongst others, resolved “To condemn violence in any form committed to disturb communal harmony and to deal with all those indulging in such violence in a prompt and resolute manner under the law.