Advani resigns

L.K. Advani (fresh from his trip to Pakistan) has resigned following the brouhaha his own party people created after Advani lauded Jinnah's 'secularism'. Although the context in which he made the comments was totally correct (Jinnah had conveniently proclaimed religious freedom for all AFTER Pakistan had been created), the torchbearers of India's far right saw red when one of their own 'praised' the sworn enemy.

I think Advani bears the millstone of December 6, 1992 around his neck & shall do so all his life. His rath yatra, the Babri demolition & the the blood of the hundreds (from both communities) who died in the subsequent riots were his & his party's doing. It may have made the BJP the creditable political outfit it is today, but sooner or later the chickens would have come home to roost.

Isn't it ironical that somebody who was so closely identified with the right wing nationalist movement had to pay after he extolled somebody's brand of secularism. It's not that I've got something personal against the BJP & its members (if it hadn't been for them, we'd never have gone openly nuclear, for one). All the same, I wouldn't count Advani out at the moment. Indian politicians have remarkable longevity, & it would be at your own peril if you thought they were done & over with before they are actually dead & buried.......or cremated as the case may be.