New Delhi: Publication of purported key conclusions of the Liberhan Commission probing the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 set off a political storm on Monday with the BJP accusing the government of a "planned leak" to divide the Opposition.
The Congress hit back saying the whole nation know that
the BJP had shed "crocodile tears" after its senior
functionaries had watched people causing destruction and
mayhem.
BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the
"selective leaks" of the Commission`s report to the media were
politically motivated and had come at a time when the
Opposition was united against the government over issues like
price rise and sugarcane prices.
Rejecting the BJP charge, Congress spokesman Abhishek
Singhvi said that for nearly two decades, the nation as a
whole generally knew what had happened and how senior
functionaries of a political party witnessed the destruction
of the Babri Masjid and then shed "crocodile tears".
Top BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and
other functionaries are believed to have been indicted in the
report which is said to have concluded that the demolition was
meticulously planned.
The report of Justice MS Liberhan, who submitted his
findings to the government on June 30 this year after an
inquiry spanning nearly 17 years, is due to be placed in
Parliament before the winter session ends next month.
Hitting out at the government, Murli Manohar Joshi
said, "This is a leakage and such leakages are, I think, with
a political motive. So the best thing is that the government
should place the entire report (in Parliament) and what action
they want to take on the report."
Countering the BJP salvo, Singhvi said, "The nation
also knows about the Rath Yatra (undertaken by Advani), the
organised movements. So, I think the people of the country
cannot be treated as fools as those who treat them as fools
are the real fools".
Kalyan Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh during the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, refused to
comment on "leaked" portions of the report.
"I will not comment on the findings of the Liberhan
Commission till it is placed in Parliament," the former BJP
leader who is now an Independent MP from Etah, said.
Bhartiya Janshakti Party president Uma Bharti said the
"selective leakage" was an attempt by the Centre to divert
people`s attention from important issues confronting
the nation.
She accused the government of trying to "malign" the
name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Giving his reaction, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav accused
the government of sitting over the Liberhan report. "Right
from the Sri Krishna Commission and Liberhan Commission, all
these commissions (were) set up by Congress governments and
now they are sitting on it," he said.
RLD chief Ajit Singh said, "Government has said they
will place the report in this session of the House. Let it
happen. Parliament is the right forum to discuss it."
PTI
