07-25-2011, 08:19 PM
[b][url="http://www.samachar.com/Mani-Shankar-Aiyar-blames-former-PM-Rao-for-Babri-mosque-demolition-lhzlJRgggde.html"]Mani Shankar Aiyar blames former PM Rao for Babri mosque demolition[/url]
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Quote:2011-07-25 11:40:00
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that [color="#8B0000"]former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao [/color]was to blamed for the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, as the act occurred when he was in office.
Talking to media persons here on Sunday, Aiyar said that Rao had a conflict with Congress party over secularism.
"He (Narasimha Rao) was the one who was responsible for what happened in the Babri Masjid, he proved that death is not a necessary pre-condition for rigor mortis to set in. It was the biggest disaster that overtook this country because the rift valley in politics is not between right wing economic policies and left wing economic policies, it is over the nature of our nation hood. Are we a secular nation? An inclusive nation? Or are we any new nation?" he added.
[size="3"]He said that years ago during his Ram Rahim yatra (rally) Rao had told Aiyar that [size="4"]he did not understand his definition of secularism, [color="#8B0000"]as the former Prime Minister believed that India was a Hindu country[/color][/size].[/size]
The demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque by Hindu zealots on December 6, 1992 had triggered widespread religious riots across the country.
He further compared the Indian National Congress was a shelter, wherein people could walk in and out as per their wishes but is proud of its diversity.
"The Congress has always been a 'dharamshala' (shelter) wherein many people can come, stay, get up, go and then come back again. So it is such a party, which had Indian freedom fighters Lala Lajpat Rai, Madan Mohan Malviya and Jawaharlal Nehru as well. It such a party that had Purushottam Das Tandon in Uttar Pradesh and Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi. It is such a party in which people of different opinion can live harmoniously," he said. (ANI)