Vajpayee

New Delhi, Feb. 20: The Babri Masjid Action Committee is contemplating moving court to have Atal Bihari Vajpayee included as an accused in the Ayodhya case, in a move that could mar the liberal image of the former Prime Minister.

The committee believes that his purported statement, made a day before the demolition of the Babri Masjid and recorded on a video CD, could be viewed as evidence of his complicity in the conspiracy. ?The video CD purportedly showing Vajpayee exhorting the people to demolish the Babri Masjid proves that he, too, was involved in the conspiracy,? committee convener Zafaryab Jilani said in Lucknow.

?We shall explore the possibilities of including Vajpayee?s name as one of the accused along with others.?

Vajpayee had made a speech at Jhandewalan Park in Aminabad, Lucknow, on December 5, 1992 ? the day before the Babri Masjid was demolished. A newsmagazine had last week publicised a video recording of his speech.

In the recording, Vajpayee was heard saying: ?Sharp stones are emerging from the ground. No one can sit on them. The ground has to be levelled....

?I have heard that because of the excitement of the kar sevaks and because of the large crowds already at Ayodhya, it has been difficult for many to even walk in Ayodhya.?

Other snatches of the recording, played before the Liberhan Commission last month, include: ?I will tell you the arth (meaning) of the Supreme Court verdict. It does not mean we have to stop kar seva. Actually, the Supreme Court has given us the right to continue kar seva. Rokne ka to sawal hi nahin hai (There is no question of stopping us)?

?Tomorrow we will not be violating any court order if we perform kar seva. It is, however, true that the Supreme Court has ruled that till the Lucknow bench announces its decision, you people cannot do mandir nirman?, the recording continues.

?The Supreme Court has allowed bhajan-kirtan. One man cannot perform bhajan alone. And many people need to gather for kirtan. And kirtan cannot be performed standing up. How long can we stand??

The Babri Masjid committee would discuss ? with senior lawyers representing the case in court and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board ? the possibility of including Vajpayee as an accused, Jilani said.

The panel?s convener said the CBI had not bothered to include Vajpayee in the case as an accused though the ?video CD has proved that he was hand-in-glove in the conspiracy leading to the demolition of the disputed structure?.

The panel would take up the demand for including him as an accused on February 24 when its petition challenging the exoneration of BJP leader L.K. Advani would be heard by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.

Last year, petitioner Mohammed Aslam had appealed to the Liberhan Commission that Vajpayee should also be questioned, but a decision has not yet been taken. However, the BJP has said Vajpayee was being quoted out of context. ?Some political parties, especially the Congress, are trying to mislead the people about the speech of Atalji and Advaniji,? said senior vice-president Muktar Abbas Naqvi.