08-12-2006, 07:04 PM
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--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Mumbai: Pawar says he added fictional 12th blast in Muslim area
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11:For the first time, Sharad Pawar has admitted, on record, that he had âdeliberately misledâ people following the 1993 Mumbai blasts by saying there were 12 and not 11 explosions, adding the name of a Muslim-dominated locality to show that people from both communities had been affected.
Spilling the beans on what became an ill-concealed secret in later days, but had never been said openly, Pawar said he had to quickly find a way to stop Mumbai from going up in flames and this was the ploy he hoped would keep Hindus from retaliating.
The step was pre-meditated as only shortly before making the announcement about the 12th blast that never was, he had been informed of 11 coordinated blasts in the city in March 1993, all hitting Hindu majority areas.
Speaking to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTVâs Walk the Talk, which will be broadcast tomorrow at 7.30 pm, Pawar, who was Maharashtra Chief Minister at the time said he had anticipated clashes between Hindus and Muslims and he had to prevent that from happening.
âI went on TV and deliberately misled people. Instead of 11 explosions I told 12 and one of those areas was Masjid Bunder, dominated by minorities,â Pawar said.
And then at the Air India office, where the first explosion had occurred, Pawar came up with another âdeliberate fudgeâ to prevent riots.
More in here: To keep the peace, I misled people on â93 blasts: Pawar
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Mumbai: Pawar says he added fictional 12th blast in Muslim areaNEW DELHI, AUGUST 11:For the first time, Sharad Pawar has admitted, on record, that he had âdeliberately misledâ people following the 1993 Mumbai blasts by saying there were 12 and not 11 explosions, adding the name of a Muslim-dominated locality to show that people from both communities had been affected.
Spilling the beans on what became an ill-concealed secret in later days, but had never been said openly, Pawar said he had to quickly find a way to stop Mumbai from going up in flames and this was the ploy he hoped would keep Hindus from retaliating.
The step was pre-meditated as only shortly before making the announcement about the 12th blast that never was, he had been informed of 11 coordinated blasts in the city in March 1993, all hitting Hindu majority areas.
Speaking to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTVâs Walk the Talk, which will be broadcast tomorrow at 7.30 pm, Pawar, who was Maharashtra Chief Minister at the time said he had anticipated clashes between Hindus and Muslims and he had to prevent that from happening.
âI went on TV and deliberately misled people. Instead of 11 explosions I told 12 and one of those areas was Masjid Bunder, dominated by minorities,â Pawar said.
And then at the Air India office, where the first explosion had occurred, Pawar came up with another âdeliberate fudgeâ to prevent riots.
More in here: To keep the peace, I misled people on â93 blasts: Pawar