New Delhi: Voicing his misgivings over the Centre’s decision to bestow Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour, on BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday called it a “wrong decision”, news agency PTI reported.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his X handle to break the news that the veteran leader, who is in his nineties and has long retired from active politics, has been chosen for the Bharat Ratna.
Weighing in on the Centre’s decision, the AIMIM MP invoked Advani’s ‘Rath Yatra’ in the nineties to push for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, claiming that wherever his chariot went, riots followed.
Speaking to media persons, the Lok Sabha leader cited fatalities during the riots that broke out across the country in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya to defend his position vis-à-vis the call to confer the country’s highest civilian honour on the saffron stalwart.
“Wherever Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra traversed, there were communal clashes and violence. There were incidents that put the entire humanity to shame. It is deeply unfortunate that the Narendra Modi government is giving the highest civilian award to him,” PTI quoted Owaisi as saying.
Owaisi also invoked Advani’s visit to Pakistan during which he praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the country’s founder and first prime minister.
Frowning further on the Centre’s decision, the AIMIM leader claimed that picking the veteran BJP leader for Bharat Ratna was nothing but an “insult to the award” itself.
“It was in his presence that the Babri Masjid was torn down in Ayodhya. He was also the Union Home Minister during the 2002 (post Godhra training carriage burning) riots. We consider this as a wrong decision,” the AIMIM leader said, as reported by PTI.