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Basu sees Bamiyan parallel in Ayodhya

Former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu on Thursday said the destruction of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was not only "barbaric" but similar to the Taliban destroying the Buddha statues in Afghanistan.

Deposing before the Liberhan Commission probing the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, Basu, who appeared for the second time as a witness for cross-examination, said, "The Taliban are an uncivilised lot. Their act of demolition [of the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan] was barbaric. I say the same thing for those who demolished the Babri Masjid," the veteran Marxist politician said.

Basu had submitted to the commission an audiocassette containing a speech of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh at Calcutta to suggest that the latter had taken pride in the demolition.

"Had I been prime minister I would have imposed President's rule in the state and prevented the karsevaks from gathering at Ayodhya," the veteran Marxist said.

Basu also accused Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of shifting his stand on the demolition, first describing it as an accident and later terming it an expression of national sentiment.

PTI

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