New Delhi: Contrary to general perception about Kalyan Singh playing a role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh was “devastated and shocked” after hearing the news of the demolition, said Anil Swarup, then an IAS officer in the UP government, Sunday.
Swarup claims to be the only one present with Singh at the time. The claim of “Kalyan Singh’s mood” was endorsed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Swapan Das Gupta, then a journalist, who had met Singh a day before the demolition.
Swarup — who was speaking at the launch of his third book ‘Encounter with Politicians’— was joined by Gupta, former Lieutenant General of Puducherry Kiran Bedi and former IAS officer Sanjeev Chopra at Delhi’s India International Centre Sunday. The book is based on his “first-hand” experiences with politicians.
Speaking at the launch, Swarup, then director of Information and Public Relations in the BJP government, said, “I have a totally different view of what happened on 6 December. I was the only person with Kalyan Singh that day. When I walked into his house, since everyone was in Ayodhya, for the first time I saw him sitting alone. He looked a little disturbed.”
The two had a “general conversation” before the news of the Babri Masjid demolition came in. “I had never seen him that devastated. Contrary to the general impression, he was shocked. He was not only shocked, he was beside himself,” Swarup revealed.
Swarup, a former coal secretary under the Modi government, went on to say that Singh spoke to L.K. Advani and “the conversation was an incredible one”.
While he did not mention the conversation with Advani, he went on to elaborate on Singh’s conversation with senior BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
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Kalyan Singh was ‘a little optimistic’
According to Swarup, Kalyan Singh was against the gathering of so many people at the spot, called “kar seva” at the time.
About Singh’s conversation with Shekhawat, Swarup said, “I was there sitting in the room. He told him, ‘Maine aap logon se kahaa tha ki itne logon ko ikatha mat kijiye. Main apne tarike se iss prakaran ka samadhan nikal raha tha. Aap agar mujhe samay dete toh iska samadhan nikal jaata’ (I had told you not to gather so many people. I was trying to find a solution my way. Had you given me more time, there would have been a solution).”
According to Gupta, Swarup was spot on about Kalyan Singh’s mood on 6 December. “I happened to have met Kalyan Singh the day before. I had a long chat with him…More or less the conclusions that Anil (Swarup) has drawn are correct.”
According to Gupta’s assessment, Kalyan Singh was “a little optimistic” in believing that his persuasive powers would be enough to take the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in a direction that would be “favourable” to him without necessarily involving mass mobilisation.
Swarup said that Singh was heading towards the direction of the “same solution” as the Supreme Court. “…the ultimate Supreme Court judgment was what Kalyan Singh was trying to do. Get a location for the masjid elsewhere and get the temple built where Ram Lalla was born.”
Claiming that he was privy to some of the discussions with minority communities, Swarup claimed that Singh used to tell them, “Main aapko ek bohot bhawya masjid ke liye jagah doonga. Aap meri aastha ka thoda khayal kijiye (I will give you a place for a grand mosque. You please consider my faith).”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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