[Prime Minister Narendra Modi (extreme left), Murli Manohar Joshi and LK Advani in a file photo.]
Dubai: Explaining why India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), infamous for taking instructions from its political masters, so keen to prosecute members of the ruling party, top UAE English daily Friday said the reopening of Babri Masjid demolition case will not only help Modi to win the 2019 general elections but may also help him wipe off the stains of 2002 Gujarat riots.
"....... the ruling is likely to bring political windfalls for the BJP and benefit Modi himself in many ways. First, a day-to-day trial will ensure that this deeply-polarising mosque-temple issue is kept on the boil for the next two years until 2019 when Modi seeks re-election". Bobby Naqvi, UAE editor of GulF News, wrote in an article published Friday.
"A successful conviction, a kind of closure for India’s Muslims, would immensely benefit Modi personally and may help him wipe off the stains of the Gujarat riots. It may also help blunt attacks from liberals who accuse the Modi government of persecuting Muslims". he added.
For political benefits, Modi would be comfortable even if the party old guards are sent to jail, Bobby wrote.
"It won’t harm Modi to take credit for a successful conviction and jailing of the ‘old guard’ sidelined by him since his landslide victory in 2014", he wrote.
Bobby also hoped that the trial may ultimately end in resolving the century-old case. Thus helping Modi again to take credit and win votes for the BJP.
"The trial may also open up possibilities for the resolution of the century-old Ram Temple-Babri Masjid dispute that has shaped the country’s politics for the last three decades. Again, this opportunity would most likely come from the Supreme Court where a title suit is pending on who owns the land where Babri mosque stood.
"Hindus say the land — an 80x40 foot plot — is the birthplace of Ram and have been demanding the construction of a temple there, an emotive issue the BJP has tried to encash in every election since the ’90s. Recently, the Supreme Court suggested an out-of-court settlement and said it was ready to arbitrate the talks between Hindus and Muslims", he wrote.
Bobby is also of the opinion that speedy trial will push pressure on Muslims and they might give up their claim on the land where the 17th century Babri Masjid stood til December 06, 1992 - the day it was razed to ground.
"Having ensured a speedy trial in the demolition case, the Modi government would be in a stronger position to negotiate with Muslims because a conviction may help subdue Muslim anger to some extent.
"While the trial is under way, the government would want to open a line of communication with the Muslim community in order to persuade them to give up their claim to the disputed site.
"If Muslims relent, all hurdles for the Ram temple would be cleared, a tantalising possibility Modi and his advisers may have already spotted", Bobby wrote in his opinion piece.
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