By APP,
New Delhi : Being a friend of India, the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussain played down the Babri Mosque incident in 1992 with issuing a mild statement on the incident only.
It was revealed in a book ‘The Ultimate Prize’ authored by Ranjit Singh Kalha, who was Ambassador to Iraq during 1992 to 1994.
Iraq also invariably supported India’s position on Kashmir, he said and added that at the meetings of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Iraq played a “constructive role”.
The former envoy revealed in his book that after six days of the destruction of the Babri Mosque, he was summoned to the Foreign Office for a meeting with a fairly junior level Iraqi diplomat, who was mild. During the meeting, it was also hinted that this was so as a result of instructions from the very top, meaning Saddam Hussain.
“We expected that there would be large scale demonstrations against us as had happened all over the Gulf.. We began to make preparations, thinking that there might even be some violence. We also issued advisories to all Indians to be careful…,” Media reports quoting the book said.
“However, much to our surprise, nothing actually happened. There were no demonstrations. It seemed nothing has happened, “ he wrote.
“Saddam had always been good to India,” Kalha says, adding that Baghdad then went on to issue a “mild” statement on December 14, criticising the destruction of the mosque and “requested” that it be rebuilt. “We heard no more after that on the subject,” he said.
The former Indian envoy hailed the general warmth feelings that Iraqis had for India.