‘I provoked volunteers to raze Babri mosque’

Former BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Ram Vilas Vedanti on Friday said it was he, and not senior leader LK Advani, who provoked kar sevaks to demolish the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

Addressing media persons at his residence here, Vedanti claimed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) presented wrong facts before the Supreme Court.

“When the mosque was being razed, Ashok Singhal, Mahant Avaidyanath and I exhorted the kar sevaks to bring the structure down,” Vedanti said.

“While we were inciting the mob, Murli Manohar Joshi, Advani and Vijayraje Scindia were trying to stop the volunteers,” he added.

Vedanti said the mosque had to be demolished so that a makeshift Ram temple could be constructed on its ruins. “It was I who said ‘ek dhakka aur do, Babri Masjid tod do’,” he claimed.

“It does not matter if I am hanged for making this statement. The mosque was in a dilapidated state and could have collapse any time as it had faced 400 rainy seasons,” he said.

He demanded that the 67.77 acre acquired land around the disputed site should be handed over to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas.

Vedanti is among the 13 people who have been accused of conspiracy by the CBI.

His statement comes after the Supreme Court asked the special court in Lucknow to proceed with the trial against Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti, and Vinay Katiyar, among others.