LK Advani’s political journey first came into limelight with his 1990 rathyatra fanning up communal riots across India. From the rathyatra to his latest tirthyatra to the US and UK, Advani has come a long way.
Advani last visited Washington in January 2002, soon after the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament. This time, Advani claimed that his discussions with the US were not Pakistan-centric. "Last time, it was focused almost entirely on terrorism, and my visit certainly seemed to be Pakistan-centric", he said, but "this time it is not so". It is being claimed that with Advani’s spearheading the visit to the "superpower" nations, India is coming of age. No longer is India being slotted as a nation obsessed with its neighbour. No longer is India soliciting Uncle Sam’s muscle against Pakistan. Instead, Advani claimed, the US Govt. is "earnestly endeavouring to recognize India as a major power". It was the US, we were told, which was courting India to get us to send troops to Iraq. ‘Global’ issues like Iraq, not ‘local’ ones like Pakistan, dominated the talks; so clearly, India has been accepted into the ‘Band of Brothers’ of the global ‘major powers’. Or has it?
Looking back on Advani’s visit to the US and UK, what is the net impact? Has India’s profile really been enhanced? Was it really India’s profile vis a vis the world or merely Advani’s vis a vis Vajpayee’s that was in urgent need of a dose of enhancement?! One key purpose of the visits seems to have been to project Advani as the ‘PM-in-waiting’ – the one who visits the Heavyweights, while PM Vajpayee is sent off to tour relatively obscure and lightweight destinations!
Despite all the claims to the contrary, it was clear to all that Advani, whether in Washington, Chicago or London, had not ceased to harp on Pakistan. Over and over, he reiterated that India and the US were "threatened by the same source" of terrorism, that Pakistan was the "epicenter of terrorism". But all his jingoistic utterances on Pakistan failed to generate an echo from the American or British powers. Contrary to the interests of India’s dignity and sovereignty, the BJP govt. has always gone all out to get the US to interfere in bilateral disputes, by asking them to reprimand Pakistan. But Advani’s visit failed miserably even in the BJP’s own pet objective of getting the ‘third umpire’ US-UK to declare Pakistan ‘out’. Back in India, the US Ambassador Robert Blackwill has delivered snub after snub. Asked whether the US concurred with Advani’s view that Pakistan is the ‘epicentre’ of terrorism, he said, "We are not going to associate ourselves with any particular articulation." In reply to whether the US believed Musharraf was nurturing terrorists, he said, "This is a matter of judgment … he has been a close ally for us. Some 500 Al-Qaeda activists have been apprehended with the assistance of Pakistan". Not only has the BJP stubbornly failed to heed democratic opinion and dialogue with Pakistan, now Advani’s own agenda of getting Bush and Blair to chastise Pakistan has fallen flat on its face. Musharraf, visiting London hours after Advani, has loudly reiterated his own positions, and certainly there were no public expressions of disapproval from Blair. Now, Musharraf will visit the US where he will have dealings with more than Bush’s minions. Bush himself will play host to Musharraf at his Camp David retreat – known to be the place where he entertains intimate personal guests rather than merely holds diplomatic parleys.
On the question of sending troops to Iraq, the Vajpayee Govt.’s barely concealed eagerness is a blot on India’s sovereignty and long-cherished principles of anti-imperialism. On this question too, Blackwill has put the BJP Govt. in its place. In statements reeking of typical Uncle Sam-style arrogance, he has said there is "no shortage" of countries willing to send troops to Iraq. If India were to send troops, India "would not be doing the US a favour", in fact it would be "doing itself a favour", and so India should bear the costs of troop deployment.
In both the US and UK, Advani’s visit was greeted with vociferous protest by Indian groups. In Washington, several groups under the banner of ‘Coalition to Support Democracy and Pluralism in India" submitted a letter to American authorities asking them not to hold dialogue with Advani who was guilty of orchestrating communal violence against India’s minorities, as well as gross violation of human rights. Protest placards were displayed which proclaimed "Advani is India’s Hitler". In London, a determined protest was held at a reception hosted by NRI businessmen for Advani. The protest was called by the South Asia Solidarity Group, and supported by several anti-war, anti-communal, Asian women’s and workers’ groups. Protesters held banners and placards and shouted slogans such as "We remember Gujarat Genocide – LK Advani has to Go!", "LK Advani, We Say – Don’t Sell India to Bush and Blair!", "No Indian Troops in Iraq, No US Bases in India!" and "Not In Our Name – No Indian Troops for US-occupied Iraq!" The protesters distributed leaflets and their slogans penetrated the venue, forcing the Chief Guest Advani to sneak in through the back door under a heavy police escort. South Asian and Indian protesters also condemned Advani’s meeting with David Blunkett, the British Home Secretary, where the agenda was British-Indian cooperation to cut down on asylum seekers. Even Blair reportedly told Advani that there were 2,500 asylum seekers from India, a number which would be "expected from a dictatorship, not a democratic country like India". Blair and Advani together are of course trying to brand asylum seekers from India as ‘bogus’.
On the whole, the sole "achievement" of Advani’s visit has been to lower India’s prestige in the world by failing to honour our own Parliament’s resolution by not telling Bush and Blair to quit Iraq. All Advani has done has been to tell the world of his willingness to allow India to become the ‘Empire’s’ pet client regime in Asia; a regime that is looking for a ‘respectable’ cover to send troops to help in the colonial occupation of the nation of Iraq.
— KK