Sam Pitroda defends Rajiv Gandhi, slams hindsight analysis

DONA PAULA: A day after the release of President Pranab Mukherjee's memoirs in which he terms Rajiv Gandhi's decision to open the Ram Janmabhoomi site "error of judgement", technocrat Sam Pitroda today defended the former Prime Minister, saying he was acting with "limited knowledge".

"Every decision is based on limited knowledge. The knowledge he has about the decision I am making is very different from the knowledge I have. If I am allowed to make a decision, five years from now you can come and criticise that decision. It's ok. Decision is made. Best thing people can do is respect the decision at that point of time," Pitroda said, speaking to reporters here.

"In India everybody wants to play Monday morning quarterback. The game is played, let us now analyse it. Tell me what Nehru did in 1951, what difference does it make?"

President Mukherjee, in his book titled 'The Turbulent Years: 1980-96', says that "opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple site on February 1, 1986 was perhaps another error of judgement. People felt these actions could have been avoided."

On Shah Bano controversy, Mukherjee says that Rajiv Gandhi's action eroded his image of a modern man.

Asked about ramifications of these decisions, and if the decision on Shah Bano amounted to Muslim appeasement, Pitroda said, "Probably true. According to the guy that made the decision, at that point of time that was the right decision. When it unfolds, it turns out to be different. It is ok, life is full of those decisions."

Pitroda, a long time adviser of Gandhis, also conceded that these decisions were political.