By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: The stormy petrel of Indian politics and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Ms Uma Bharti, who is president of her Bharatiya Jan Shakti, (BJS), a political outfit which is a breakaway group of Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), has emphatically stated that she would never be apologetic of the December 6, 1992 event wherein 500-year-old Babri Masjid in north Indian town Ayodhya was brought down by Hindu zealots in a mob frenzy.
Bharti has also emphasized that her party would not hesitate to strongly oppose the implementation of the recommendations of the Sachchar Committee Report for Muslims.
Addressing ‘Meet the Press’ programme here on Sunday Ms Bharti reiterated her stand that she was ready and will be glad to be hanged for the demolition of Babri Masjid for the sake of construction Ram Mandir and the people of India.
It may be pointed here that a day earlier, while talking to newsmen at her residence, she had said this while responding to a questioner about her likely indictment by Justice Liberhan Commission, probing the circumstances leading to demolition of Babri Masjid, which she repeated today also.
Ms Bharti said Advani, who was in the vanguard of the campaign and led his “Rath Yatra” for the construction of Ram Mandir at the very spot where Babri Masjid stood, had no hand in the demolition of Babri Masjid but he should own up the demolition like a good general as is the tradition in the army. In a battle when an army gets defeated then individual soldiers are not blamed but the general who is leading the warriors owns up the debacle, she opined.
She said Advani, however, was crest-fallen after the Babri Masjid was demolished as he had probably thought to cash on it to further his political ambitions. “Advani had called December 6, 1992 as the saddest day of his life while addressing a Press Conference in Pakistan and apologized for it”, Ms Bharti pointed out.
Ms Bharti claimed that there was no conspiracy or pre-planning to demolish the Babri Masjid on that fateful day of December 6, 1992. “If it had been there then all the top leadership of BJP would not have been on one platform at one point of time on that day”, she tried to explain.
“We wanted that the Babri Masjid structure should fall and we had build an atmosphere for it all over India but not in the manner the way things unfolded on December 6. The whole atmosphere on that day was very charged and explosive, no doubt, but how the structure collapsed is a mystery,” Ms Bharti expressed ignorance.
“It was all spontaneous act and no pre-planning”, she claimed.
Referring to her statement made before the Liberhan Commission in this regard, Ms Bharti, who was then a BJP leader, said she was in favor of pulling down the structure and was firm on this regard even today.
Pointing out that she wished that Ram temple be built in Ayodhya, the sadhvi said she would continue to keep working in this direction.
The firebrand leader said she would never leave Hindutva even if BJP leaders discarded it. Asserting that Hindutva was not an issue but a matter of faith, she said Hindutva was not a religion but a way of life that has been described by the Supreme Court of India
Meanwhile, Ms Bharti while replying to a question said her party would oppose tooth and nail the implementation of recommendations of the Sachchar Committee Report .
She said that reservation on the basis of religion would not be accepted because India is a secular country. She demanded that India should be first declared a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ (Hindu state) before implementing reservation along the lines of religion. She said reservation on the basis of caste could be accepted due to existence of caste system in India.
The BJS would not hesitate to come down on road to oppose the implementation of the Sachchar committee’s recommendations, she remarked.
Meanwhile, Ms Bharti on Saturday had welcomed the Supreme Court of India’s interim order restraining the Union Government and the Sethusamudram Corporation from causing damage in any manner to “alleged” ‘Rama Sethu’ (Adam’s bridge) while implementing the Sethusamudram canal project.
Ms Bharti, who had spearheaded the campaign to oppose the demolition of ‘Rama Sethu’, took credit of the Supreme Court order saying I was first to oppose the Union Government’s move on Rama Sethu’. She said:” It is my victory and that of my followers”.
She said that the Supreme Court’s restraint order is very significant. The issue of ‘Rama Sethu’ is not only religious but of archaeological and national heritage importance. She said that her party hails the Supreme Court’s order.
It may be pointed out here that a Bench consisting of Justices B.N. Agrawal and P.P. Naolekar passed this restraint order till September 14 on an application filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy apprehending that Rama Sethu would be damaged in the next few days using RDX explosives.
The Bench issued notice on the application seeking the response of the Union Government, the Sethusamudram Corporation and other respondents on the question of interim relief — not to damage Rama Sethu as well as the main transferred petitions. “Till September 14, the alleged Rama Sethu/Adam’s bridge shall not be damaged in any manner. Dredging activity may be carried out so long as it does not damage Rama Sethu”, the order said. ( [email protected])