NEW DELHI, 18May — Union Home Minister L. K. Advani’s attempt to absolve himself of the charge of arousing “religious frenzy” in the demolition of Babri Masjid may turn out to be a feeble attempt in deflecting attention away from him. While deposing before the Liberhan Commission this week, Advani tried to deviate from his earlier stand.
He blamed Prime Minister P. V. Narsimha Rao’s government for its “refusal” to request the Allahabad High Court to give an early verdict on land acquisition case. The delay, said Advani, aroused public temper. He held the VHP as primarily responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid. “For VHP,” he said, “the movement was religious but for BJP it was political. The BJP saw Ayodhya as an opportunity to strengthen nationalism.”
The very next day (May 16), Ruchira Gupta, former journalist, turned the tables against Advani while testifying before the Liberhan Commission. She had covered his rath yatra (chariot procession) from Dec. 3 at Deora and followed it till Dec. 6 at Ayodhya. She recalled Advani’s “rabble rousing” speeches and “anti-Muslim” slogans.
She said, “Everywhere from Deora to Itwa to Tulsipur, Balrampur and Ayodhya, Advani said we are not going to Ayodhya to sing bhajan/kirtan, but to do kar seva. Mulayam Singh has discredited the Hindus, but at Ramjanamsthan a temple will be constructed.”
Gupta also claimed to have learned that, “An engineer from Orissa had come to Ayodhya to tell designated kar sevaks which points of the Babri structure should be attacked first to bring the domes down.”
“Around 11.45,” Gupta recalled, “two people were seen on top of the middle dome with a saffron flag. I heard Advani comment, They should not climb on top. The structure is any way going to fall. Advani then requested the kar sevaks to come down.”
Gupta’s testimony reduces credibility of Advani’s attempt to present a moderate picture of himself before the Liberhan Commission.
Meanwhile, sources in the government have revealed that the Liberhan Commission may be scrapped. This commission was set up by the Narsimha Rao government in 1993 for six months. Its term has been extended every six months.
The Sangh Parivar hard-liners from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, according to sources, are pressurizing the government to direct the commission to submit an interim report and then disband it.
