Liberhan Report on Babri Demolition Expected Soon

Author: 
S.A. Ali, Arab News
Publication Date: 
Thu, 2007-08-30 03:00

NEW DELHI, 30 August 2007 — A high-power commission constituted to inquire into the circumstances leading to demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on Dec. 6, 1992, is expected to submit its report tomorrow.

Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in the upper house of Parliament yesterday that the Liberhan Commission is likely to give its report within its present extended tenure, that is, Aug. 31.

The commission, headed by Justice M.S. Liberhan, was constituted during the regime of late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, by an order of the Home Ministry following the demolition of the Babri Mosque on Dec. 6, 1992, and the riots in Ayodhya. In the last 14 years of hearing, the commission has held over 325 sittings and examined over 100 witnesses, including 14 defense witnesses, 53 central government witnesses and 32 commission witnesses.

The commission recorded statements of several politicians, bureaucrats and police officials, including former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Kalyan Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav, Narasimha Rao, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Cabinet ministers M. M. Joshi, Uma Bharati, and BJP leader Vinay Katiyar.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday accepted the interim report of Justice N. N. Singh Commission on Bhagalpur riots of 1989 and approved the proposal of compensation package at a par with the one provided to the 1984 Sikh riot victims and 2002 Gujarat riots victims.

The state has now put the ball in the center’s court as the amount will be paid by the Union government. Nitish will approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard. To pursue the matter further, the state’s home secretary, Afzal Amanullah, will go to Delhi soon, sources said.

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