Well, now the cat was truly out of the bag. In trying to be both secular, and pro-hindu, the Congress lost the plot. I and several hundred million Hindus in India till that day of the TV announcement, never knew that there was such a shrine as Ram Janmabhoomi. The issue had lain dormant. I, for one, was just appalled by this whole thing. The BJP mounted its own campaign. And this was sought to be not just countered, but matched by the likes of such Muslim LEADERS like Syed Shahabuddin and others.
There was not one sane, cosmopolitan Muslim voice that could be heard in this utterly shrill screaming match that raised temperatures, and swept away any reasonable discourse or dialogue. And once Advani's rath yatra started rolling, it went on rolling like a juggernaut, un- stoppable, till the Babri Masjid was demolished.
The BJP would never, ever have been the second largest party, had it not been for the Congress's pandering to the lowest elements in Muslims: the mullahs, the illiterate, the poor "Islam khatray mein hai" was always the cry that the likes of "Shahi" Imam raised. And they managed to strike a chord in these elements.
Middle class Hindus watched all this, and internalised it. Today also, people watch the likes of Mani Shankar Aiyar, SICKULAR (not secular, please) Jehadis, who removed a plaque from Kala Pani in the Andamans commemorating Veer Savarkar. And he went to town, shouting from the rooftops what he ha
