Hyderabad: MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the award of the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Mr Owaisi also objected to the Padma Vibhushan being awarded to BJP patriarch and former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani. Speaking at a book release function, Mr Owaisi asked how the country’s highest civilian honours could be conferred on the two leaders when criminal cases were pending against both.
Holding Mr Advani responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition, the MIM leader alleged that the hatred spread by Mr Advani’s Rath Yatra had led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid,
He said that “Mr Vajpayee, the BJP stalwart, had made some controversial comments on the Ayodhya issue, the videos of which were available on YouTube.”
“Have we forgotten December 6 (1992)? The same Atal Behari Vajpayee who had said ‘we are going to level the ground’ (has now been given the Bharat Ratna).”
