Home secretary had warned that UP govt won't keep promise, says NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Babri case

NCP chief Shard Pawar said on Friday that the then Union home secretary had warned before the demolition of the Babri mosque that the Uttar Pradesh government would not keep its promise to protect it.

Pawar, who was in prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's cabinet when the mosque at Ayodhya was demolished by Kar Sevaks in December 1992, was speaking to reporters here.

A CBI court earlier this week acquitted 32 people including senior BJP leader L K Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Asked about the verdict, Pawar said then Union home secretary Madhav Godbole had informed that Kalyan Singh-led UP government would not keep its promise of protecting the disputed structure.

"But prime minister P V Narasimha Rao was of the opinion that the Centre should trust the chief of the state. Unfortunately, Godbole's opinion was not considered and what he anticipated took place," Pawar claimed.

He also said that demands for construction of temples at similarly disputed sites in Kashi and Mathura were worrisome from the viewpoint of social harmony.