‘Babri Masjid Demolition Meticulously Planned’: Justice Liberhan

The theory that the gathering of kar sevaks in such large numbers was for “kar seva” alone doesn’t add up, he said.

LK Advani, MM Joshi and Uma Bharti 

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

In 1992, the Liberhan Commission was set up to probe the sequence of events that led to the Babri Masjid demolition. The report was submitted in court in 2009, to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The report highlighted the involvement of senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, senior RSS and BJP leaders, and the then Uttar Pradesh government reported The Indian Express.

The report said: “They either actively or passively supported the demolition.”

Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan who headed the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry for 17 years told The Indian Express: “I found it was a civil conspiracy, I still believe in it. From all the evidence produced before me, it was clear that the Babri Masjid demolition was meticulously planned.”

Justice Liberhan also said that BJP leader Uma Bharti categorically took the responsibility of the demolition.

“It was not an unseen force that demolished the mosque; human beings did it.”

The Commission had said that the rally of kar sevaks was not spontaneous or voluntary. According to the Liberhan Commission report, the mobilisation of kar sevaks was well “orchestrated and planned”.

The manner in which the entire event was arranged and the mobilisation was carried out, it does not add up to the theory that the gathering of kar sevaks in such large numbers was for “kar seva” alone.

The report had named more than 60 people, which included senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and A B Vajpayee, RSS and VHP leaders, bureaucrats as culpable.

Justice Liberhan told The Indian Express that his report was correct , honest and free from fear or any other bias. He also said: “for posterity, it is a report that will provide an honest account of what took place and how. It will be part of history.”

However, Justice Liberhan refused to comment on CBI court’s decision, he said that “I believe everyone does his job honestly. The court has the right to differ, there can be no dispute about its power or working.”

‘Uma Bharti Took Responsibility’: Justice Liberhan

Justice Liberhan said that he presented his report based on what he found, LK Advani, Vajpayee, appeared before him, “but they can’t be a witness against themselves,” Justice Liberhan told Indian Express.

He also said that few of them took responsibility for the Babri demolition.

“Uma Bharti categorically claimed responsibility; now, if the judge says she is not responsible, what can I do,” Justice Liberhan said.

He said that given the evidence and the witnesses that were presented before him, anybody could have concluded that the demolition was a premeditated action.

Justice Liberhan further said he was supposed to find out the culprits behind the demolition of Babri Masjid and the events leading to the demolition. He said people may have religious intent, but for politicians, it was about garnering votes.

He said that “it was a watershed moment for the BJP.”

The former Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh and Madras high courts said that the demolition could have been prevented if right planning and administrative action was taken on time.

‘No Preventive Steps Taken to Stop Demolition’

Justice Liberhan had mentioned in his report that no preventive actions were taken to prevent demolition, neither any steps were taken to stop communal hatred.

The Liberhan report also mentioned that the RSS, Bajrang Dal, BJP, Shiv Sena cadres were present at the spot during the demolition.

The report suggested that “they either actively or passively supported the demolition”.

It also mentions that preachers, sadhus, police officers, media, kar sevaks were also present during the demolition.

“In the process, all acts were directed for or to acquire political power and thereby achieve the politically desirable results,” it said.

‘Advani Organised Ram Janaki Yatra to Mobilise Crowd’

The Liberhan Commission report mentions that the then Kalyan Singh UP government had allowed the main characters of the movement and the kar sevaks to govern the Ayodhya and Faizabad administration.

According to the report Kalyan Singh’s government had refused to use the paramilitary forces during the demolition of Babri Masjid. The report also states that Kalyan Singh was fully aware of the events that were taking place, he also knew the implications of it. Kalyan Singh reluctance to take any action was inexplicable.

The Commission clearly mentioned that the events which unfolded, the government wasn’t powerless against the mob.

“This was, on the contrary, a pitiable and shameful case where the chief minister and his associates, within and outside the government, within and outside his party, within and outside the Parivar, actively hindered and obstructed the small pockets of sanity and common sense which might have prevented the demolition of the disputed structures or the ensuing riots,” The Indian Express reported.

The Liberhan Commission also states that the bureaucrats did not take any action, the administration did not put any force on the kar sevaks because they were afraid of the government.

Ram Janaki Rath Yatra by LK Advani was organised to mobilise people to construct the temple on the disputed site.

“It was the leadership of the BJP, a national political party, which came forward for mobilising the people on the Ayodhya temple issue, along with Mathura and Kashi. It challenged the constitutional secularism by calling it pseudo-secularism,” the report said.

The Commission added that on 6 December 1992 – the day Babri Masjid was demolished, Advani and Joshi were present at the spot, and they made a ‘feeble request’ to the kar sevaks to stop the demolition and come down from the dome, The Indian Express reported.

It said that none of the leaders asked the kar sevaks to not to enter the garba griha or not to demolish from inside the domes. This clearly indicates the hidden intentions “of one and all being to accomplish the demolition of the disputed structure,” the report states.

The Commission also criticised the then Congress’s Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s led government at the centre.

“The central government had been day-dreaming that the state government would go against its election manifesto,” it said.

Champat Rai, now general secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust that is in charge of the construction of the temple at Ayodhya, had said that guerrilla strategy will be adopted for the demolition that will take place on 6 December 1992.

“This declaration was published and not contradicted or countered by any leader of the movement or political party,” the Commission said.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)