Liberhan report generates heat in Rajya Sabha

The Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of Babri Masjid on Wednesday generated heat in the Rajya Sabha with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party squarely blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for the demolition of the historic structure, while the main opposition debunked the report.

After enough of bad blood between the United Progressive Alliance and the BJP following acrimonious debate in the Lok Sabha, the Upper House took up for the discussion the report of the Commission that took 17 years to complete the task.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, who was fielded by the Congress as its principal speaker, termed the BJP as 'hypocrite' blaming it for diverting the main issue as to who was responsible for the demolition of the mosque.

"The highway issue is who demolished the Babri Masjid and why did they do it," Singhvi said adding that it was a 'carefully conceived and calibrated conspiracy.... enormous pre-planning was involved.'

He said the BJP wanted others to believe that pulling down the mosque was a spontaneous issue.

Initiating the debate, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said both the Congress and the BJP were equally responsible for the incident of December 6, 1992.

He said while the BJP had sown the seeds of hatred, Congress and the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao remained a mute spectator.

Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley described the Commission's report as 'tragedy of errors,' lacking in credibility.

Launching a blistering attack on BJP, Singhvi said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has already admitted that the Congress did the mistake of believing the Uttar Pradesh government, but it was a side issue, which was now being sought to divert the attention from culpability.

He said while former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has every right to go to the court and get any remark against him expunged in the report, he 'shares some guilt by his association.'

He should have either changed his party or his friends in 1992 and 'he cannot run with the communal hare and hunt with a secular hound.'

Singhvi said it was possible that an error took place about naming in the report without issuing him notice. The BJP was now using his name to mislead the nation while the main issue was being diverted, he said.

He said that BJP's charge against P V Narasimha Rao for the demolition was like the principal accused blaming the policemen for inaction in preventing the crime being committed.

"Everybody was misled. The Supreme Court was misled. They were misled by you (then BJP government in UP)," he said.

He said senior BJP leader L K Advani's statements after the demolition in 1992 and in 2009 were contradictory and accused him of hypocrisy. "Even crocodile has more genuine tears," he said.