New Delhi, (DMA Newsdesk): The Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition has held 68 people individually culpable for leading the country "to the brink of communal discord". The list includes former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi as well as Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
The Justice M S Liberhan commission report has not recommended punitive action against anyone for the demolition of the Babri Masjid and calls for a new law to punish people using religion for political ends.
The commission indicts 68 people for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 in Ayodhya, Law Minister Veerappa Moily told CNN-IBN after the report was tabled before Parliament on Tuesday.
Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during the mosque’s demolition, has come for the harshest criticism in the report. He is accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the mosque’s demolition in Ayodhya.
The commission’s report says Singh and his Cabinet allowed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to directly run his government.
Uma Bharti, Govindacharya, Kalyan Singh and Shanker Singh Vaghela--all of whom were with the BJP then--are held primarily responsible for the destruction of the mosque and the report says that they could have prevented the assault.
Senior BJP leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are called “pseudo-moderates”. The report holds them intellectually and ideologically responsible for the mosque’s destruction. The report says that they gave false assurances to court, people and the nation.
Vajpayee, Prime Minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Government, was not present on December 6 when the mosque was brought down, but the report says it cannot be assumed that Vajpayee, Advani and didn't know of the designs of the Sangh Parivar
Justice Liberhan has almost given a clean chit to the 1992 Central government and then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
Amongst the others in the list are then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia, RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan as well as Govindacharya, the late Vijayaraje Scindia, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara.
Bureaucrats have been named too, including A.K. Saran, inspector general (security) and chief secretary V.K. Saxena.