Advani’s tryst with demolition
Ayodhya 17 years ago: What BJP leaders were doing on the dark day
Interestingly, in 2003, a Rae Bareli court in Uttar Pradesh, dealing with the Babri demolition, surprisingly discharged the then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, allegedly the man behind the temple movement in Ayodhya.
The top BJP leadership, including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, “sat in the front row” of the dais “for seven hours” till the last of the three domes of the Babri structure were demolished around 5 pm on December 6, 1992.
This is the argument presented by the CBI before the court against the top leaders of the BJP and the VHP, while charging them in the case under 153A and 153 B (spreading communal frenzy) and 505 (creating ill-will) of the Indian Penal Code.
Interestingly, in 2003, a Rae Bareli court in Uttar Pradesh, dealing with the Babri demolition, surprisingly discharged the then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, allegedly the man behind the temple movement in Ayodhya.
The court , however, ordered framing of charges against seven leading saffron leaders including Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti, and VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Sadhvi Ritambhara, Giriraj Kishore and Vishnu Hari Dalmia. The CBI chargesheet has accused all the eight leaders (including Advani) for their collective responsibility in “instigating the demolition.”
The “lenient view” towards Advani apparently emanated from the testimony of one of the witnesses, who reportedly told the court that the BJP leader was appealing “Kar Sevaks” to calm down and not to violate the order of the Supreme Court to maintain status quo.
There is another eyewitness view that Advani did not do enough to restraint the leaders making highly provocative speeches on December 6.
The veteran BJP leader had later described December 6 as “the saddest day of my life”. His case is still pending in court.
