‘What I said about NDA govt was true’

Foemer President K R Narayanan’s office today confirmed that he had written a letter to the Godhra riot commission, stating that whatev...

Foemer President K R Narayanan’s office today confirmed that he had written a letter to the Godhra riot commission, stating that whatever he said in an interview to mediapersons regarding the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat was his own opinion and the media had printed it without any error.

Breaking his silence two years after stepping down from office, Narayanan, in an interview on March 2, severely criticised former PM A.B. Vajpayee for the way he handled the post-Godhra situation. He had alleged that Vajpayee did not do anything effective to control riots in Gujarat despite his letters.

Currently on a foreign tour, Narayanan on April 15 responded to a letter from the Nanavati-Shah Commission asking him if his interviews were printed ‘correctly’.

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In an interview to Malayalam magazine Manava Samskriti, Narayanan said, ‘‘I had asked the military to be sent to suppress the riots. The Centre had the constitutional responsibility and powers to send military if the state government asked. The military was sent. But if the military was given powers to shoot at the perpetrators of violence, recurrence of tragedies in Gujarat could have been avoided. However, both the state and Central government did not do so.’’

Following his statements, an application was filed by advocate Mukul Sinha requesting the probe panel to summon Narayanan. The Commission decided to verify if the statements were made by Narayanan himself.