Clarion India
MUMBAI – Attacking Shiv Sena for not taking part in the Babri Masjid demolition, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis cofessed to playing a role in razing the Mughal-era mosque.
“People who’re scared of removing loudspeakers from mosques are saying that they demolished the Babri Masjid. Devendra Fadnavis was a part of Babri Masjid’s demolition. There was no Shiv Sena leader then,” Fadnavis was quoted by ANI as saying.
In its Ayodhya judgement, Supreme Court termed the demolition of the mosque illegal.
Addressing a ‘Booster Dose’ rally at Somaiya Ground along with other BJP leaders, Fadnavis claimed that he does not consider Babri Masjid a mosque.
“I don’t consider it a mosque. It was just a structure,” he said.
Taking a veiled jibe at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis alleged that some people think that disrespect to them means disrespect to the state.
“Some people think that they are Maharashtra. Their disrespect means the disrespect of Maharashtra. You should know that you are not the state. Twelve crore people are Maharashtra. You are not Marathi. The situation has come to point that one can say that you are not even Hindu, but I won’t say this,” he said.
Referring to former minister Anil Deshmukh and sitting minister Nawab Malik who are in jail, the BJP leader took a dig at the state government stating that there was work from home earlier, but now “there is work from jail”.
“For whom is the government (Shiv Sena) working is the big question. Two of their ministers are in jail and they shamelessly print the photo of a minister who’s in jail, on the decisions of the government. Earlier, there was work from home, now there’s work from jail,” Fadnavis said.
