eteran Congress leader S B Chavan passed away on February 26, 2004. The 83-year-old Gandhian had spent nearly six decades in public life. Though he had served as the chief minister of Maharashtra and held the Finance, Defence and Planning portfolios at the Centre, he is best remembered as the Union home minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government when the Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992.
In an exclusive interview in 2000, Chavan had told Chief Correspondent Onkar Singh that the Rao government's decision not to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh before the demolition was a mistake.
RSS chief K S Sudershan has claimed that explosives were used in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.
I have appeared before the Liberhans
Commission and given my statement. I have dwelt in
detail on the circumstances that led to the
demolition of the Babri Masjid by kar sevaks of the
BJP and Shiv Sena. There was jubilation in the
RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena camps.
I have seen the statement
given by Sudershan in the newspapers. I do not
really understand why he did this at this juncture. The RSS members are very clever
people. Sudershan wants to use this statement
as some sort of diversionary tactic. To
create an impression that the BJP and its allies were not
responsible for this. That is why he is saying that
the structure was demolished because of the explosion.
If he knew about this, why did he keep quiet for
the last eight years? Why didn't he tell the Government of India or
the intelligence agencies? The Liberhans
Commission has issued him a notice and he should
appear before the Commission and tell us about it.
You were home minister at that point of time.
Did the intelligence agencies then tell you anything about
it?
I do not recall if the intelligence agencies
at any stage brought this to my notice that some
explosives were used to demolish the Babri Masjid.
They never ever mentioned anything like this to
me.
Were you taken aback by Sudershan's statement?
Naturally. I was taken by surprise. First, I
thought he might have a basis for that kind of claim. But later it
dawned on me that he was floating this new theory to
divert attention from the main issue.
Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande has also issued a similar
statement.
I have seen it in one of the national dailies. She was friendly with all of us, I wonder
why she didn't tell us about it.
In the same article, she said the truth would
be known after her death.
She does not have to die to reveal the truth.
If the matter is so important, then why is she making
people wait? She should tell the truth without any
further delay. She must tell the Liberhans Commission
what she knows. (Ms Deshpande has been summoned by the
Liberhans Commission on January 30, 2001 to reveal what
she knows about the explosion theory).
But the people hold both the BJP and the Congress
responsible for the demolition. Particularly, then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's inaction.
I would not like to say anything about Raosahib as I served him as home minister. He is also entitled to hold a different
view. The present prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had told Raosahib time and
again that the kar sevaks would not touch the disputed
structure. Rao believed him. The UP government led by
Kalyan Singh also told the Supreme Court that the
state government would not allow the structure to be
demolished.
When the structure fell, we realised that instead of Vajpayee prevailing upon the kar
sevaks, it was the kar sevaks who prevailed upon him.
Did you warn Rao about the consequences? Did you specifically tell him to dismiss the UP government before it was too late?
Of course, I told Raosahib time and again that he should not trust the word of honour given to him by Vajpayee, leader of the BJP. He should dismiss the UP government before the kar sevaks brought it down. Because if the structure was brought down, then
people would question our secular credentials.
Yes, I did tell Rao to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government before it was too late. The UP government was dismissed on the evening of December 6, after the Babri Masjid had been demolished. But then it was pointless.
Is it true you had sent large numbers of paramilitary forces to Faizabad
before December 6?
We had sent more then 193 companies of paramilitary forces for deployment around the Babri
Masjid to prevent the kar sevaks from reaching the
structure. But Kalyan Singh strongly objected to the
Centre's decision. He refused to
deploy the companies though they were very much there.
He kept on saying that the kar sevaks would not touch
the Babri Masjid.
We kept getting information that the
kar sevaks were determined to bring down the Masjid. L
K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti were
giving fiery speeches and egging the kar sevaks on to
go ahead. Now they are saying that explosives brought
the Babri Masjid down. I think they are kicking up the
issue with the view of consolidating Hindu votes
in the forthcoming UP assembly election.
But Congress leader Arjun Singh has also told a television
network that he had heard about the explosion theory.
If that is true, then why did he not tell the
Union Cabinet? After all, the Cabinet had
collective responsibility. Why did he keep quiet for
such a long time? He did not raise the issue when he
quit the party.
Why do you think Vajpayee made a statement on the Ayodhya temple issue out of the blue?
They have kicked up this issue with a view to consolidating the Hindu votes in the UP assembly election.
The Rediff Interviews
Tell us what you think of this interview
