The Hindu : Front Page : NDA, UPA took contradictory positions before Commission

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NDA, UPA took contradictory positions before Commission

Special Correspondent

New Delhi: During the National Democratic Alliance regime, the Centre filed an affidavit before the Liberhan Commission disputing the facts in the ‘White Paper’ of the Narasimha Rao government by asserting that the chain of events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya started in 1528 itself when the mosque was erected and not when the idol of Lord Ram was placed in the central dome of the disputed structure on the night of December 22/23, 1949.

It was stated “the starting point of the whole chain of events which ultimately led to the demolition was the erection of mosque and continuous and relentless struggle of Hindus to regain the site which is mentioned partly in the White Paper issued by the Central government and partly in BJP’s White Paper and judgments of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court.”

The NDA government had also maintained that the ‘disputed structure’ in Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Ram and it was an undisputed fact. Therefore it had argued that the Commission could not probe the role of the Union government while dealing with the ‘sequence of events’ as it was not part of the terms of reference of the probe.

Further, the Commission also had no jurisdiction to go into the concepts of “secularism,” “Hindutva” and “Hinduism,” it said and added that while dealing with the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the ‘disputed structure,’ the Commission should begin at least from 1855, if not from 1528 when the mosque was erected.

However, after the United Progressive Alliance government came to power in May 2004, it was made clear to the Commission that the earlier affidavit was not acceptable to it and a new affidavit was filed.

It said the December 6, 1992 demolition at Ayodhya was a “well-planned conspiracy” that began in 1989 when the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena lent support for building a Ram temple. Also the BJP passed the Palampur resolution to remove all obstacles to its construction.

“It was clearly an act of conspiracy”

The Centre’s submission said: “From the records it is apparently clear that the demolition was clearly an act of conspiracy between the State government headed by the then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, his Cabinet colleagues, various prominent leaders of the BJP and the Sangh parivar including the RSS, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and the Dharam Sansad.

“The UPA government alleged that the security arrangements in Ayodhya and near the Ram Janambhoomi Babri Masjid complex were systematically removed and security diluted prior to the demolition in pursuance of a resolution passed at a meeting of the Kalyan Singh Cabinet. Defending the actions of the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao during the demolition, the UPA government submitted that the Central government had taken measures to defuse the situation and avoid a confrontational approach and bring about a reconciliation of various concerned parties.”

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