I'm ready to own Babri Masjid demolition: Uma

Bhartiya Janshakti Party president Uma Bharti said on Tuesday that she was ready to own responsibility for the demolition of the disputed Babri mosque at Ayodhya and would be ready to hang if found guilty.

Reacting to the submission of the Liberahan Commission report on the demolition of the mosque, Bharti told reporters at her residence, "Like a good commander, I am ready to own the responsibility of the Babri masjid's demolition and I would have no problem even if I am hanged on the issue."

"The report which was submitted to the Prime Minister after 17 years of the constitution of the Commission is an attempt to appease Muslim community," the former MP chief minister said.

"The UPA government led by Congress was unable to find a single person responsible for the massacre of 20,000 Sikhs at the behest of Congress after the death of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," she alleged.

"By doing so they deliberately wanted to term us culprits with an intention to divide Hindus and Muslims for political gains," the former firebrand BJP leader said.

She also appealed to the BJP leaders not to apologise for the demolition of Babri mosque as they themselves invited large number of people at Ayodhya for starting the 'Karseva'.

Bharti said that in 1992 after the then P V Narasimha Rao government's 'wrong' decision of not allowing any kind of Karseva in Ayodhya, it was difficult for anyone to control over five lakh people gathered in the city.

"All of us including RSS leader H V Sheshadri, former Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi and myself appealed to the crowd not to demolish the mosque, but whatever happened after that was a sudden development," Bharti said.

She admitted that she was in Ayodhya from December 1-7, 1992, and on December six many leaders of BJP, RSS and VHP and mediapersons from world over were present in the town.

Bharti said she will neither apologise nor express any regret for the Babri Masjid's demolition and expected the same from the BJP leaders also.

"We should own the responsibility for the mob's action as it reached there on our invitation and should not say or utter anything that will hurt the feeling of Hindus," she said.

The Liberahan Commission Chairman, Justice M S Liberahan, submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmoham Singh in the presence of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.