Former Faizabad SSP supports Rahul's statement on Ayodhya issue

New Delhi, Mar 29 (UNI) Congress MP Rahul Gandhi may have triggered a political storm by making a controversial statement on the Babri mosque demolition, but he has got solid support from former BJP MP D B Rai, who was Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Faizabad at the time of the demolition.

In his just published book ''Ayodhya - 6 December Ka Satya'' (Ayodhya -- Truth behind December 6), Mr Rai has buttressed Mr Gandhi's claim that had someone from the Nehru-Gandhi family been active in politics at that time, the Babri mosque would not have been demolished on December 6, 1992.

Some important excerpts of the book have been published in the latest issue of 'Outlook' Hindi magazine, which claim that then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was also responsible for the demolition of the mosque.

Mr Rai further claims that a domestic help of Mr Rao's nephew had also joined the ranks of Kar Sevak and he died under the rubble of the disputed structure as it collapsed. In addition, several other Kar Sevaks were also killed.

In his book, the former BJP MP writes that on December 6, 1992, when ''unmadi'' (fanatic and zealot) Kar Sevaks were trying to desecrate the disputed structure, its information was being provided to the officials of the Central government. However, neither the Cabinet Secretary and the Home Secretary nor some other officials tried to contact the District Magistrate or the SSP.

Mr Rai comes out with a poser: If the Central government was convinced that the structure was being demolished with the consent of the then BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, how was it so sure that its directives to the state government employees in Lucknow for the protection of the disputed structure at Ayodhya were reaching the Faizabad district administration and the police.

''The Union Home Minister and the Home Secretary consulted neither me nor District Magistrate. Not only that, the Centre did not even try to contact DIG-level officers of Central security forces which were then deployed in Ayodhya,'' claims the former SSP.

In contrast, when the controversy had erupted in 1948 in the wake of the emergence of ''Ram Lalla idols'' at the disputed place, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had tried to talk to the then District Magistrate of Faizabad.

Mr Rai has also written that the claim of the Narasimha Rao government in the White Paper, which was brought out in the aftermath of the Ayodhya incidents, that Mr Rao made constant efforts to solve the imbroglio, was absolutely ''erroneous''.

On the contrary, Mr Rao did nothing during the 70 days out of the three months, which was the timeframe given to him by Hindu saints for resolving the Ayodhya dispute.

''The remaining 20 days were frittered away by him on determining the starting point of talks and where from the talks should begin,'' he writes.

In his book, Mr Rai refers to ''serious efforts'' made by Mr Rajiv Gandhi and former Chief Minister Virbahadur Singh. However, these efforts failed in the face of resistance from the BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders.

UNI