(2 of 2)
Once the damage was done, Rao tried to respond. He vowed that he would rebuild the mosque, dismissed the state government and imposed direct rule on Uttar Pradesh. Advani was arrested and charged with fomenting communal violence. He protested that he had tried to prevent the kar sevaks from tearing apart the mosque, and issued a statement accepting "moral responsibility." But others argued that the assault on the shrine might never have happened had Rao's central government taken earlier and more decisive action.
India has absorbed great shocks before, and some analysts insist that it will rebound from this spasm. Others see a nation-threatening danger that has to be addressed by firm government action. Rao took a first step by calling for creation of a mass movement to defend secularism. His critics argue that he must go further by barring all parties from using religious issues to gain votes -- a stricture that is probably unenforceable.
The most immediate problem is to defuse the Ayodhya issue. Any attempt to dismantle the makeshift shrine at the site would be a dangerous provocation. One proposal is that the newly erected monument to Rama should remain while the government pays to build a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque on either side of it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, has not changed its ways. The party is planning to whip up Hindu fervor by holding nationwide rallies and protests against the arrest of its leaders. The party has also warned that Rao's vow to reconstruct the mosque would provoke "a confrontation of unimaginable proportions." Muslim leaders are sure to call counterdemonstrations that could unleash more bloodshed.
/ The nation will probably be convulsed for some time to come. If that span is to be shortened, Rao must provide forceful leadership -- and express it in a way that keeps the Hindu majority away from the banners of hatred and sectarianism. What India needs is a quick revival of the ideals of its founding Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and its spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi. After last week's carnage, that seems a difficult task indeed.