No regret on Babri Masjid, ready to be hanged: Uma Bharati

As the Liberhan Commission probe report on the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was submitted to the Govt, former BJP leader Uma Bharati said she does not regret the destruction and would be ready to be hanged if found guilty. "I wanted the old structure to be destroyed though not in that way," Uma Bharati said.

As the Liberhan Commission probe report on the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was submitted to the government on Tuesday, former Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader Uma Bharati said she does not regret the destruction and would be ready to be hanged if found guilty.

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"I wanted the old structure to be destroyed though not in that way," Uma Bharati, now heading the Bharatiya Janshakti Party after quitting the BJP, told reporters in Bhopal.

Uma Bharati, former central minister and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, is an accused in the demolition of the 16th century mosque. Hindu rightwing groups have maintained that the mosque was built on the site where Lord Ram was born and where a temple to him stood.

Uma Bharati said she had no regrets for what happened on December 6, 1992, but added that "none of us had planned to demolish the structure".

Questioning the timing of the submission of the probe report, she accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of "playing politics", and termed the move as an attempt to appease its "Muslim vote bank".