The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday described the Action Taken Report (ATR) of the government on the recommendations of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry as “weak and inadequate” and noted that the report displayed lack of political will to bring those responsible to justice.
The government should prosecute all those named in the report within a time-bound framework and expedite the proceedings of the cases currently in the courts, the party’s Polit Bureau said in a statement.
The nation wanted to know what action the Centre was going to take. In the past too, those indicted by commissions for communal violence had got off scot-free as in the case of the Sri Krishna Commission report, it said.
The Liberhan Commission report had made a clear and sharp indictment of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party and other constituents of the Sangh Parivar while giving a “virtual clean chit” to the then Union government.
Several top BJP leaders were named as being responsible for the crime and the report demolished the defence put out by the BJP that it was a spontaneous movement that went out of control. It also lays bare the meticulous planning that went into the demolition. “It shows the utter disregard for the Indian constitution by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar,” the statement said. The Polit Bureau was also critical of the Sangh Parivar for showing no remorse. “The Sangh Parivar and its constituents, far from showing any repentance, are making efforts to use the report once again to rouse communal passions. People of this country will no doubt reject such sectarian politics.”
The CPI (M) found fault with the report for failing to pinpoint the failure of the Union government to take action at the appropriate time. The Polit Bureau said that despite repeated requests made by senior political leaders in the secular Opposition at that time and the unanimous resolution of the NIC asking the Narasimha Rao government to take all measures to protect the Babri Masjid, it showed itself to be weak and vacillating in the face of the communal offensive.
“By giving a virtual clean chit to the then Central government, the Commission has laid itself open to the charge of a political bias,” it added.
