For a politician, particularly one who aspires to be the next prime minister of India if his party wins the 2009 elections, writing an autobiography at this point in time can hardly be appreciated. The problem is that he may be damaging his prospects of electoral victory if he tries to be fairly (or really) honest with history he has witnessed and been a part of.
It is for this reason that L. K. Advani's autobiography My Country, My Life has been treated as a politically-motivated work by most of India's political fraternity. So, if he succeeds in fulfilling his 20-year old ambition, says Indian writer A. G. Noorani, this book will rank as the Fuhrer's Mein Kampf. And if he is defeated at the hustings, it will be remembered forever as the swansong of a man who wanted to be prime minister of India too badly.
The 986-page book is an intimate narration of all the events he thought were important enough to be told to BJP rank and file and he didn't try to be economical with details. Advani couldn't restrain his subjectivism as he describes and argues how he shaped certain events. Born on November 8, 1927 in Karachi, he became involved in politics at the young age of 14 by joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). At the time of the partition, he opted to make India his country by crossing into Rajasthan as did many Hindus in Sindh to escape senseless communal violence. His political career began in India in 1951.
Over the next six decades, he was always in the limelight as a leading politician or a communalist but took pride in being a democrat. He has been a keen observer of, and participated in, almost all the major political developments. Advani's perspective of how India's political evolution took place is also the RSS perspective with few exceptions. As aptly stated by Mohan Bhagwat, General Secretary of the RSS, on the eve of the release of the book, Advani has written his autobiography like a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer).
The book covers Advani's life in five phases - in Sindh from 1927 to 1947; in Rajasthan from 1947 to 1957; the formation of the Jana Sangh and related events that unfolded from 1957 to 1977; the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Emergency in the period from 1977 to 1997; and that between 1997 and 2007 during which the Rath Yatra was taken out to build Ram's temple at Ayodhya by demolishing Babri Masjid, and his elevation as deputy prime minister.
Perhaps his proudest achievement, secured together with his senior colleague Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has been bringing to an end the Congress party's dominance over India's polity and presenting the BJP as a viable alternative to the Indian electorate.
Of great interest to Pakistani readers will be his version of what happened at Ayodhya. Here, he is found behaving like a frenzied Hindu zealot rather than a politician, often indulging in double-speak.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, Advani says, was the 'saddest day' of his life although according to the next day's newspapers he was 'heard' ordering the sealing of all entry points to Ayodhya to prevent security forces from entering there.
He even refused permission to BJP chief minister of UP state Kalyan Singh to resign unless all the three domes were brought down.
And on January 24, he said he 'did not regret the demolition of the mosque though he was sad that day.' But more amazing is his remark that 'the movement' succeeded in projecting the BJP as 'a spirited champion of genuine secularism' in India and had, at the same time, exposed 'pseudo-secularism' of Congress and the two communist parties. In other words, he is convinced that secularism (not Hindutva) is a better creed and way of life.
But later he changes his tone. The Chandrashekhar government arranged the first ever official talks between VHP and All India Babri Masjid Action Committee to seek a negotiated settlement of the dispute. At the meeting, he says, 'the Hindu side made it clear that the birth of Ram at Ayodhya is a matter of faith held by crores of Hindus which cannot be challenged, proved or adjudicated.'
Advani says he was surprised and shocked to learn that some Muslim organisations were describing the Babri Masjid issue as a life-and-death issue for the Muslims of India. By doing so, he says, they were 'adding communal colour' to the 'legitimate' demand of Hindus who 'expect a Hindu atmosphere in Ayodhya.' But another BJP stalwart, Sushma Swaraj, demolished the myth built by Advani when she stated that the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was 'purely political in nature and had nothing to do with religion.'
Another important chapter in the book is about the 2001 Agra Summit whose failure is generally attributed to Advani for his peculiar role. Gen Musharraf also held him personally responsible for letting this great historic moment go to waste. Similar were the reactions of most politicians within India. Advani tries to put the record straight in his book but fails to offer convincing explanations. Two factors, he says, were responsible for the collapse of the talks absence of a reference to cross-border terrorism and Shimla and Lahore declarations in the draft statement.
But there is no controversy over the fact that Advani panicked when he saw Vajpayee and Musharraf moving towards an agreement and were about to issue a declaration. He was seen pacing up and down the floor agitatedly. Although the summit could still partially succeed Advani was, as his account reflects, determined to make it a failure. He claims the summit was not more than 'a get-acquainted meeting' at Agra. And it is amazing that he dared to ask Musharraf in his first meeting with him on July 14 to hand over Dawood Ibrahim to India as an act of goodwill. There was little vision or courtesy and decency in that opening discourse with a visiting head of state.
Advani has shed no new light on his 2005 visit to Pakistan and his controversial remarks about Mohammad Ali Jinnah, whom he described as a secular politician by referring to his 1947 speech. His remarks caused a storm in his party with many leaders demanding his resignation as head of the BJP which he had to concede later.
Also, there are some prominent inaccuracies in the book. For instance, he describes G.M. Syed as 'a renowned Sufi philosopher.' The fact is that Syed was neither a Sufi nor a philosopher but a politician. Similarly, Advani says Bhagat Singh was 'hanged by the British' because he had hurled a bomb in the Central Assembly on April 8, 1929 (page 792). The fact is that Bhagat Singh was sentenced to death for the murder of Assistant Superintendent of Police Saunders on December 17, 1928.
If this brief opportunity for peace is wasted, sparking a wider conflict, the blame will rest squarely with the US president and the bloodthirsty Zionist regime.
