New Delhi: Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s “pro-Hindu mindset” encouraged the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Monday.
Speaking at a book launch here, many others, including former Congressman Natwar Singh who also worked closely with Rao, described the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992, as “the biggest failure” of the then Prime Minister Rao.
“Rao was completely convinced that by talking to the sadhus and saints he could solve the problem (Ayodhya’s Ram temple issue),” Aiyar said at the release of ‘Half Lion — How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India’ penned by Vinay Sitapati. Aiyar recalled that on November 14, 1992, his “Ram-Rahim yatra” for peace was stalled at Faizabad and he was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police.
“I was summoned by Rao, he told me he had no problem with my yatra but he did not agree with my definition of secularism as India is a Hindu-majority country. I told Rao that’s exactly how the BJP argues,” Aiyar said while countering contentions from the book author.
Author Sitapati maintained that Narasimha Rao had actually only “erred” in judging the situation and that “it was only the Congress creation that Rao conspired for the mosque’s demolition”. Aiyar, however, maintained that even after the mosque’s demolition, Rao told a Congress Parliamentary Party meeting that “even kings used to consult sages and so did I”. (IANS)
