Godbole, a Maharashtrian IAS officer, had a reputation for hard work, rectitude as well as acrimony. He asked Madhav Godbole, his home secretary, to draw up a contingency plan to take over the mosque. … Though Rao decided not to impose Central rule in UP that July, he was confronted with the possibility that he would have to do so at short notice. Rao was close to several BJP leaders, from Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi, to Bhairon Singh Shekhawat It is not that of a person who would have planned it or been complicit in it.’ His face was glowering red, he was agitated.’ Dr Reddy gave Rao an extra dose of beta blocker, and left only when the PM had visibly calmed. Twenty-three years later, Reddy recalls Rao’s physical state: ‘I am fairly convinced as a doctor that his personal reaction to the demolition was one of honest agitation. ‘As I expected, his heart was racing away… pulse was very fast… BP had risen. But the doctor insisted that his patient be examined… ‘Why have you come now?’ Rao angrily asked Reddy. The third dome of the mosque had just fallen. Rao was standing when he entered, a gaggle of officials and politicians around him. Reddy rushed to the prime minister’s office. How will he be feeling?’ A bypass surgery in 1990 had nearly caused Rao to retire from politics. Reddy watched, numb…Īlmost immediately after, Reddy thought to himself, ‘The prime minister is a heart patient. By 1.55 p.m., the first dome had collapsed.
At 12.20 p.m., Reddy saw live on television, the assault on the first dome by thousands of Hindu activists. Channels showed calm in Ayodhya-the three domes of Babri Masjid visible. At around noon, he switched on the television.
Since it was a Sunday, Reddy, a cardiologist at AIIMS hospital, spent the rest of the day at home with his family.
0 kommentar(er)
