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Kalyan Unrepentant, Amar Apologetic, Govt Pledges Action on Liberhan Report

Kalyan Singh, who was chief minister of UP during demolition of Babri Mosque, said that he suspected a “political conspiracy” behind the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry that severely indicted leader of the BJP for demolition.

“In the Liberhan Commission there is a stench of politics,” he said, adding that the report was “politically motivated”.

Also, he denied the charge leveled by Liberhan that there was a conspiracy to bring down the mosque.

“I say there was no deep conspiracy and there was no advance planning to break the structure. December 6 was an explosion,” he said.

The over 1,000-page report was placed in Parliament on Tuesday. It has severely indicted top leaders of the BJP, to which Kalyan Singh then belonged, for the mosque razing that sparked off one of the worst outbreaks of communal violence in India.

Earlier, in Rajya Sabha, SP general secretary Amar Singh got into a scuffle with BJP’s SS Ahluwalia when later raised slogan ‘Jai Sri Ram’.

As some members of the BJP raised slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, fisticuffs broke out between the two MPs and others. This happened soon after the Home Minister P Chidambaram had tabled the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry report probing the demolition of the Babri Masjid in the house.
But later, he said that he was prepared to apologise and “didn’t want to manhandle him” but was provoked by attempts to divide the House along communal lines.

“I am ready to apologise to Ahluwalia. I didn’t want to manhandle him. But he raised slogans, which had the potential of dividing the house into communal lines,” the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters after coming out from parliament.

“He was raising slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’. This is our temple (referring to parliament). It has no religious affiliations. I am a Ram devotee myself. But Ram is not our political figure.”

In the report, retired judge MS Liberhan called for a firm separation of religion and politics and sought “exemplary punishment” for those using religion for political ends.

“The events of Dec 6, 1992, and the many subsequent events have already shown to the nation the danger and the disruptive potential of allowing the intermixing of religion and politics,” Liberhan said in his report.

He went on to say that the “use of religion, caste or regionalism is a regressive and dangerous trend, capable of alienating people and dividing them into small sections.”

“I must recommend that the de-merger of religion and politics must be studied and implemented at the earliest.

“It is inherently unfair, and immoral and legally dubious, to hold democracy hostage to religious and casteist blackmail,” the report said in the chapter titled “Recommendations”.

The report sought statutory power for the National Integration Council (NIC) so as “to implement secularism as envisaged by the constitution”.

In response to the report, the Government says in the ATR that it is contemplating a bill to check communal violence and that the bill envisages the setting up of special courts.

It has also stated that steps would be taken to expedite the three cases pertaining to those responsible for the mosque demolition in the special courts in Lucknow and Rae Bareli.

“One of the measures contemplated is the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control & Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill. The bill contemplates the setting up of special courts,” the Government said in the ATR.

The Government has also said the setting up of a centralised riot control constabulary was not required as the Central Reserve Police Force was already in existence.

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