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Report on Babri Mosque tabled in Indian parliament

* Upper, lower houses witness chaotic scenes
* Liberhan Commission report indicts 68 leaders, including Vajpayee and Advani

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DEHLI: Under pressure from the opposition following the leak of excerpts of a report on the demolition of Babri Mosque, the Indian government on Tuesday tabled in parliament the judicial report that investigated the “sequence of events leading, and all facts and circumstances relating, to the occurrences at the Babri Mosque complex” on December 6, 1992.

The voluminous report – along with the government’s action-taken report – was tabled in both Houses of parliament, triggering chaotic scenes.

A one-man commission of Justice (r) Manmohan Singh Liberhan indicts 68 leaders – including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy LK Advani. The report also comes down heavily on the use of religion to gain political mileage, and recommends a law to punish those involved in such misuse.

The 13-page action-taken report – tabled by Home Minister P Chidambaram – says the government has accepted the recommendation, and is contemplating enactment of the Communal Violence Bill to prevent and control riots and set up special courts to deal with the matter.

The action-taken report, however, makes no reference to the indictment of top BJP leaders.

Liberhan said the events of December 6, 1992, and several subsequent events had already highlighted the danger and the disruptive potential of allowing the inter-mixing of religion and politics.

The only assurance that came forth in the government report was that steps would be taken to expedite the hearing of cases of such nature.

Home Ministry sources said Chidambaram – a senior advocate by profession – worked through the night drafting the action-taken report.

The draft was also tabled at an emergency meeting of the federal cabinet in the morning—which was presided over by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee – although Law Minister M Veerappa Moily later told reporters that the action-taken report was only a “hurried document”, with more action expected after a comprehensive study of the commission’s findings.

The Lower House would discuss Liberhan Commission report on December 1 – giving members enough time to study the findings.

It has been learnt that the leaks were masterminded by the Congress in a bid to disturb the united stand the BJP and other opposition parties had put up in recent days. In his report, the retired Supreme Court judge has said that disputes over the provenance of monuments, temples and other structures “cannot be resolved without the help of experts”.

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