'While Babri mosque was being demolished, the then PM was offering prayers', discloses Rajasthan Governor

New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade on Tuesday made some startling and shocking disclosures on the Babri mosque demolition in 1992, taking the lid off ‘many secrets’ that remained buried in history even after three decades of the episode that triggered widespread riots across the country.

“While the Babri mosque was being demolished by the mob, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was offering prayers to God,” Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade told the gathering at an event in Nanded, on Monday.

The revelations by the Rajasthan Governor came at a programme to commemorate the death anniversary of former Union Home Minister Dr Shankarrao Chavan and are likely to snowball into a big political row, with Congress taking exception to it.

Congress has held the then-BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, responsible for the razing of the Babri masjid, but the latest revelation by someone who closely witnessed developments of the Babri demolition era is set to make the grand old party uncomfortable.

Sharing details of the contemplations in power corridors during that time, Bagade said that he visited Ayodhya as part of a committee, before the religious structure was brought down.

“When Dr Shankarrao Chavan went to the Babri mosque, there was no idol of Ram Lalla. Only three domes existed. He asked where the masjid is, to which he was told that this very structure is called Babri mosque,” Haribhau Bagde told the audience.

Haribhau Bagde, who also served as Speaker in the Maharashtra Assembly, further said that if there was no history of the 1992 episode, there wouldn’t have been a grand Ram Mandir today.

He, however, defended the tenure of Dr Shankarrao Chavan as the Home Minister, and said he advocated for President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh to contain the growing disorder and unrest, but his advice was brushed aside by those within the Ministry, and one among those who opposed it was Sharad Pawar.

“After the Babri mosque was razed, Sharad Pawar rushed to meet Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and apprise him of the situation. He found him offering prayers to the deity,” he further said.

He further stated that the purpose of worshipping God at the crucial moment could be interpreted in both ways -- it was either for saving the disputed structure or for allowing the destruction to proceed.