NEW DELHI, 4 July 2003 — Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani is in fresh trouble over his claims that he was too far from the scene of the demolition of the Babri Mosque for Hindu fanatics to hear his appeal for sanity.
The Liberhan Commission’s recent visit to Ayodhya has falsified certain claims made by Advani, other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders — M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharati — and their right-wing associates from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
During this visit, the second in 10 years, Justice M.S. Liberhan and his team wished to verify two claims. One, how close Advani and other leaders were to the “kar sevaks,” or volunteers, who demolished the mosque; and, two, the veracity of certain maps handed to the commission.
During cross-examination at the commission, Advani and Bharati had claimed that with the kar sevaks far away, their pleas to stop the demolition fell on deaf ears. On the day of the demolition, Dec. 6, 1992, Advani and other Hindu leaders were seated at the Ram Katha Kunj Manch.
Following a visit to the scene, Liberhan Commission members have reason to disagree with Advani and Bharat’s claims. “We visualized the Dec. 6 scene from Ram Katha Kunj Manch and felt that not only could the dome of the mosque have been visible from there but even an appeal by the leaders to stop the demolition could easily be heard by the kar sevaks ,” a source said.
To examine the site map given to the commission, Justice Liberhan paid special attention to matching the position of what is called “Ram Divar” by the VHP. One gate shown in the site plan does not exist.
The commission also studied the approach to the mosque from the Dorahi Kuan side (the one used by Advani, Joshi and Bharati on Dec 6). It was found that a large number of kar sevaks could have entered the complex from there in less than two minutes.
The commission also crosschecked claims made about the existence of a wooden barricade at the site.
“Justice Liberhan made searching inquiries about the wooden barricade. While some officials said it did not exist, a few others did not remember what had happened at that time,” a source said.
The issue has not spared Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee either. Earlier this week, Muhammad Aslam alias Bhure filed an application before the commission seeking to summon Vajpayee in light of allegations made by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh that he knew about the alleged conspiracy to demolish the mosque. Two other applications filed by Bhure seek to summon Advani and Singh before the commission.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board also wants Kalyan Singh to testify at the commission. Singh recently accused BJP stalwarts, including Vajpayee and Advani, of involvement in a conspiracy to demolish the mosque.
The demands by Bhure and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board for the BJP leaders and Singh to testify have created a stir in political circles. Their applications are posted for hearing on July 10.
