Pawar claims he didn't delay army deployment during 1993 riots

Former defence minister Sharad Pawar said on Monday that he was not responsible for any delay in the deployment of armed forces in Maharashtra during the 1993 communal riots.

Deposing before the Srikrishna Commission, which is inquiring into various aspects of the riots, Pawar said the army deployment was demanded not only for flag marches but also for action. He said it took some time to go into action because the army columns had to come from various parts of the country.

During his cross-examination by lawyer Niteen Pradhan, Pawar said the then Union government, in which he was the defence minister, had received a letter of appreciation for the role played by the army from then Maharashtra chief minister Sudhakar Naik. He also produced the letter, addressed to former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, before the Commission.

The former Maharashtra chief minister criticised the role of some political leaders for delivering 'inflammable' speeches during December 1992 for further 'flaring up'' the prevailing tense condition. ''The media should also have avoided giving unnecessary publicity to these speeches,'' Pawar submitted before Justice Srikrishna.

Questioned about political differences with Naik which might have caused some delay, Pawar submitted, ''There was no political feud then.'' On being further questioned about the deployment of the army, he stated that though it is a part of defence ministry, the order of deployment came from the southern command.