'Narasimha Rao responsible for Babri demolition'

Asserting the Congress member and former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao could never be forgiven for the demolition of Babri mosque, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said on Sunday that the Liberhan Commission overlooked the judicial process in the case of Bharatiya Janata Party leader A B Vajpayee.

"How can the Congress be forgiven for the demolition of Babri mosque. Neither the party nor late Rao can be forgiven for the demolition of the historical structure in Ayodhya," said AIMPLB spokesman Maulana Abdul Rahim Quraishi. The board had not given any clean chit to Rao, he told reporters in Lucknow.

"Narasimha Rao was equally responsible (for the razing of the mosque)

and there is no question of giving him a clean chit. "Even the Liberhan Commission had not given any clean chit to Rao in its report," Quraishi, also the assistant general secretary of the board, said.

On Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was indicted by the Liberhan Commission, he said being the leader of the party, he was also equally responsible for the demolition. "But technically Vajpayee should have been given a notice which was not done by the Commission," Quraishi said. The Commission overlooked the judicial process in the case of Vajpayee, he said. On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praising Vajpayee, the AIMPLB leader said politicians could change their stance any time.