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The Rediff Interview/Harin Pathak

"I am not facing any charge of murder."

Harin Pathak who resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on Saturday started his career as an ordinary municipal councillor in Ahmedabad. He had completely forgotten the case, accusing him of instigating a mob which killed a policeman, filed against him and his one time mentor Ashok Bhatt by the Congress government in 1985.

However, the past caught up with him when charges were framed against him and Ashok Bhatt in an Ahmedabad court. He discussed the controversial incident and the case that has derailed his promising career with Prithvi Shah..

Have you resigned on the insistence of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee?

No. It was our (Pathak's and Ashok Bhatt's) decision. We had met many senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the last two days and explained that we were not involved in the murder. We have given them proof of our innocence.

Nobody put pressure on us to resign. I resigned after discussing this matter at length with the PM and senior BJP leaders.

Why did the court frame charge of murder against you if you are innocent?

Actually speaking, we have not been charged for murder. We have been accused of inciting the mob that killed a head constable.

The ruling Congress government of the time implicated us in this case after we exposed their communal politics.

Why only you and Bhatt? No other BJP leader has been named.

The ruling Congress government did this to corner us. Around February 1985, some Congress leaders conspired to give the prevailing anti-reservation agitation a communal colour with the connivance of the police.

Only two of us (Pathak and Ashok Bhatt) opposed this. I was an ordinary municipal councillor at that time.

Nobody was ready to speak against the misuse of the police force by the Congress government. There was some kind of connivance between police officers and Abdul Latif, a known bootlegger. We spoke against it.

After we exposed them, they systematically planned a conspiracy to fix us.

Why did you not present your case in the court in the last 15 years?

We are not facing any charge of murder. We are only accused of making inflammatory speeches. Besides, we have evidence that we were not at the scene of the crime when it occurred.

Then, why did you resign?

To set a good trend in Indian politics. We have decided to keep away from all posts till the court proves our innocence.

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