Liberhan report generates heat in Rajya Sabha

The Liberhan Commission report on demolition of Babri Masjid today generated heat in the Rajya Sabha with Congress and SP squarely blaming the BJP for the demolition of the historic structure while the main opposition debunked the report.

After enough of bad blood between the UPA and the BJP following acrimonious debate in the Lok Sabha, the Upper House took up for the discussion the report of the Commission which took 17 years to complete the task.

Senior supreme court lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, who was fielded by the Congress as its principal speaker, termed the BJP as "hypocritic" blaming it for diverting the main issue as to who was responsible for the demolition of the mosque.

"The issue is who demolished the Babri Masjid and why did they do it," Singhvi said adding that it was a "carefully conceived and calibrated conspiracy.... enormous pre-planning was involved."

He said the BJP wanted others to believe that pulling down the mosque was a spontaneous issue. "They (BJP) think they eat grain while rest eat grass".

Initiating the debate, Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party) said both Congress and BJP were equally responsible for the incident of December 6, 1992.

He said while BJP had sown the seeds of hatred, Congress and the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao remained a mute spectator.

Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley described the Commission's report as "tragedy of errors" lacking in credibility.  Launching a blistering attack on BJP, Singhvi said home minister P Chidambaram has already admitted that the Congress did the mistake of believing the UP government but it was a side issue which was now being sought to divert the attention from culpability.

He said while former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has every right to go to the court and get any remark against him expunged in the report, he "shares some guilt by his association".

He should have either changed his party or his friends in 1992 and "he cannot run with the communal hare and hunt with a secular hound".

Singhvi said it was possible that an error took place about naming in the report without issuing him notice. The BJP was now using his name to mislead the nation while the main issue was being diverted, he said.

He said that BJP's charge against PV Narasimha Rao for the demolition was like the principal accused blaming the policemen for inaction in preventing the crime being committed.

"Everybody was misled. The supreme court was misled. They were misled by you (then BJP government in UP)," he said.

He said LK Advani's statements after the demolition in 1992 and in 2009 were contradictory and accused him of hypocrisy and double-facedness. "Even crocodile has more genuine tears," he said.Singhvi said soon after the demolition of Babri Mosque,
Advani had stated that the incident should not have happened and it hurt him. While recently the BJP leader had said that establishment of a huge Ram Temple was his aim, he said.

He said Congress had paid the price for whatever secondary role it had in the incident and underwent "eight years vanvas (exile). We expressed regret, what have you (BJP) done," he asked.

Observing that Congress need not have the Commission's report to condemn the BJP for its "fraud on the nation", Singhvi said BJP had tried to push the country back to medieval period and talked the language of divisiveness.

Singhvi said the BJP president had likened the demolition to "Quit India Movement" and said he felt pity for their political understanding. 

Amar Singh said that besides Advani, then prime minister Rao was also to be blamed for the incident. "The strategy of segregating Rao from Congress will not work. How can you throw away the Rao legacy. Prime minister Manmohan Singh is his greatest legacy."

He said that while the country had a "sleeping" the then prime minister on the one hand, on the other hand Leader of Opposition (Advani) was undertaking Rath Yatra.