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Indian Government Defeats Censure Motion Over Mosque Row
by Pratap Chakravarty
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government Thursday defeated an opposition censure motion seeking the sacking of three ministers implicated in the 1992 razing of a mosque by Hindu zealots.
The motion was defeated by 291 votes to 179, with 14 abstentions.
Prior to the vote, Vajpayee had launched a strong defense of his cabinet colleagues, saying he would not allow them to resign.
"There is no question of accepting their resignations. Even if they put in their papers, I will reject them," he said at the end of a heated two-day debate.
Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Sports Minister Uma Bharti and Human Resources Minister Murli Manohar Joshi have all been cited by a federal investigation for inciting a Hindu fundamentalist mob to destroy the Babri Masjid in the northern town of Ayodhya in 1992.
The incident led to nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots in which 2,000 people were killed.
Although the motion was defeated, the debate was at times uncomfortable for Vajpayee, who was scolded by coalition allies unhappy with his expressions of support for plans to build a Hindu temple on the ruins of the Babri Masjid.
Vajpayee had been charged with letting his moderate, secular mask drop when he said last week that the temple campaign was an unfinished "expression of national sentiment."
Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist BJP party supports the temple construction drive, but agreed to keep the issue out of the coalition's common agenda.
In his speech Thursday, Vajpayee laid into opposition MPs who had paralyzed parliament for seven consecutive working days as they pressed the speaker to table their censure motion.
"The disruption in parliament is the product of a rat race by opposition parties for political mileage," he said.
Vajpayee told parliament his remarks on the temple campaign had been taken out of context and should never have been taken as a policy statement, as he was speaking off the cuff to reporters.
The prime minister stressed there was "no question" of deviating from common agenda of the coalition government.
"I am sad that my honesty has been questioned," Vajpayee said. "My life is an open book and to say that I wear a mask is totally wrong."
"Let us sit together and find out ways to a solution of this issue, because Ayodhya is a sensitive issue," he said in an hour-long speech.
Earlier in the day, Vajpayee had been lectured in parliament by his coalition partners on the importance of defending India's secular traditions.
"We cannot compromise on secularism and my humble request to the prime minister is that this message should come from him," Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
Yerran Naidu, leader of the regional TDP party, which backs the coalition, also mixed his support for the government with criticism of Vajpayee's remarks.
"The PM should give his clarification on this," he said.
Vajpayee took a battering in the first day of debate Wednesday as Jaipal Reddy of the Congress said the premier had "no moral right" to continue in office if he refused to sack his three colleagues.
The case involving the three ministers is pending in court.
"We have made it clear and we are making it clear that we will implement the verdict of the court," Vajpayee added.
Home Minister Advani, who remained silent in parliament, later told reporters the demands for his sacking were unjustified.
"I regard that as part of an action during the course of a movement," he said, adding offered to quit in 1995 as leader of the opposition because of charges linking him to a financial scandal.
Advani argued that he did not renew his offer this time, as the charge was a result of his participation in a "movement."
"I had then told them that Ayodhya case fell in a different category as it was a movement. The prime minister had rejected this demand for resignation last year itself," he said.
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