'Babri should not have been razed even if it was disputed'

Senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi today slammed BJP over the demolition of Babri Mosque, saying it should have been allowed to exist even if it was disputed as people take lessons even from "wrong steps" of history.
"If somebody constructed a mosque and it was disputed... even if somebody committed a wrong, it should have been allowed to remain. We preserve and learn from history even if it is bad.
"It would have been better had it remained a mosque for Muslims and Temple for Hindus. It could have co-existed. A row was created by demolishing that structure in Ayodhya," Dwivedi told reporters.

Dwivedi's comments came on a day when a news portal claimed that the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition was an "act of planned sabotage" and not by frenzied mob of Hindu outfits.
At a press conference, Cobrapost editor Anirudh Behl screened the recorded interviews in which some low rung leaders of BJP, VHP and Shiv Sena have claimed that the operation was carried out with precision by their volunteers after going through intensive training and mock drills.
Replying to questions about his pitch for reservation based on economic condition of people, Dwivedi said that many people agree that the poor irrespective of whichever caste or community they belong should be helped but this is an issue, which needs thorough deliberation, which is not possible in the din of elections.

"In Congress, the message has reached halfway but it has reached in the country. Many political parties have accepted the idea. I do not want to rake it up during elections...But the issue of reservation on the basis of economic condition will have to be considered," he said.

Dwivedi said that among SCs and STs also, if the privileged once are not segregated, the benefits of reservation will not reach the really needy.
Targetting Modi, he said, "A man, who was Chief Minister gave lakhs of acres of land to capitalists at throwaway prices... What that man did to the senior leaders of his party. Through his arm-twisting tactics (Dhouns and Dadagiri), he forced all of them to accept him as their leader.

"What kind of governance will be there in the country, if power is held by such a person?...You all remember the painful incident that had happened in Gujarat".
Dwivedi said that communalism is a poison and a disease and so is casteism and only a leader who breaks through the shackles of these two ills will be acceptable in future.