Mr. Advani's deposition

Sir, - Mr. L. K. Advani's deposition before the Liberhan Commission does not, in any way, reflect the pain and anguish he now claims to have felt at the demolition of the Babri mosque. Rather, true to his style, he distorts history to draw parallels and give sanctity to the sectarian movement. The analogy between Somnath and Ayodhya is too far fetched. The Somnath temple was built by taking the consent and concurrence of all the groups and communities. No lives were lost. The involvement of Sardar Patel was not to further the Hindu majoritarian agenda. He was a far sighted leader who believed that Hindu-Muslim unity could be nurtured. But, Mr. Advani's rath yatra only created ill will among the communities.

Besides, his comparison of Gandhi's Dandi march with his own rath yatra is also inappropriate. Gandhi's march galvanised all sections of society to fight British imperial forces. Mr. Advani's movement, on the other hand, was divisive.

Sanjay Kumar,

New Delhi

Sir, - The depositions by Mr. L. K. Advani, before the Liberhan Commission, proves beyond doubt that politicians are at liberty to say different things on different days, keeping in mind the political mileage they can derive from it and having complete disregard to ethics, honesty and morality. As regards his reference to Mr. V. P. Singh's offer to join Kar Seva, it seems plausible because Mr. Singh was in such a great hurry to become Prime Minister that he joined hands with the BJP. Thanks to Mr. Singh, the BJP's number in Parliament increased from two to 67 and today the party is sitting in the driver's seat.

Feroz Khan,

Udaipur

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