NEW DELHI, 28 May — The term of the Liberhan Commission, which is inquiring into demolition of the Babri Mousque has been extended by another six months, a Home Ministry statement said. The term of the commission set up by the Narasimha Rao government in 1993, due to expire on June 30, has been extended till Dec. 31.
Extension given to the commission does not suggest that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists are viewing the Ayodhya issue from a new angle. The laxity of L.K. Advani’s Home Ministry and BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government has already been exposed. This refers to charges against Advani and 20 others accused in the demolition case having been dropped because of the UP governments refusal to abide by a court order.
As per the court order, the state government was required to issue a fresh notification against the 21 accused within three months. The UP government ignored the court directive. The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) request to the Home Ministry for taking “appropriate action” in the matter has also gone unheeded. This implies that proceedings will now be continued only against the administrative and police officials. The other 21 have escaped it.
The UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh justified his position by saying that the state government was not issued any court directive.
He said, “As far as I remember, there was no order to us from the high court. And the state government has no role whatsoever in the matter.” At the same time, the BJP activists were delighted at this turn of events. Singh commented in Delhi, “The prime minister is so happy, he congratulated me.”
With regard to the commission, till last week according to sources, the probability of it being scrapped was strong, as pressure were being exerted to scrap the commission. Also, Sangh Parivar hard-liners, from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to Bajrang Dal, were strongly pressurizing the government to direct the commission to submit an interim report and then disband it.
Besides, considering that Advani’s statements before the commission, have placed him on a sticky wicket, it was strongly speculated that its term would not be extended. During his last testimony, he laid the responsibility of the Ayodhya movement and the mosques demolition on the VHP and the Narsimha Rao government.
He said, “All scheduled programs declared in the Ayodhya movement were done by sadhus. We did not launch the movement. The government of India was active in facilitating the movement, we did not know about it. The VHP announced the kar seva (voluntary service). I came to know of it through the press.”
Subsequently, during her testimony before the Commission, a journalist accused Advani of having contributed to the Ayodhya movement and demolition of the mosque.
If the commission had been denied another extension, Advani would have provided the opposition another weapon to target him with. Having performed miserably in the recent assembly polls, Advani and other BJP stalwarts do not want to create ground for such risks. Advani and BJP activists will face the real Ayodhya test when the commission’s report is placed before him. They have already failed one test that of ignoring the court directive and CBI’s request.
