Liberhan report 'leaked', Advani furious

FIRM COMMITMENT: LK Advani says building a huge Ram Temple in Ayodhya is the aim of his life.

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New Delhi: Leader of Opposition LK Advani, who has reportedly been indicted by the Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan Commission of Inquiry report in the Babri Masjid demolition case, on Monday slammed the Union Government over the report.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who had given a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar demanding a debate on the Liberhan Commission, said he was surprised that the report has been "selectively leaked" to the media.

"I was shocked to see this report. This report is talking about my seniors Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This report was given to the government in June, it is November now. The Home Minister didn't table this report in the last session. Government should table the report in the House," said Advani while waving a copy of the Indian Express newspaper in the Lok Sabha.

Advani went on to add that he was proud of his association with the Ayodhya movement.

"I am proud of my association with the Ayodhya movement. I was grieved over the demolition of that structure but the establishment of a huge Ram Temple on that spot in keeping with people's aspiration is my aim in life and until it happens, I will keep pursuing it," said Advani.

The BJP MPs kept on shouting 'shame, shame' and pesh karo, pesh karo (table the report) as the issue was being discussed despite the government's assurance that the report along with the Action Taken Report would be tabled in the current session which concludes on December 21.

BJP President Rajnath Singh said that the manner in which the report was leaked has "saddened" the people.

"Top leaders like Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi being blamed together surely indicates a well-planned conspiracy," he said in Lok Sabha.

"The Congress is the biggest communal party of the country. In spite of the nation entering its 62nd year of freedom... the party has pursued its political interest by creating social discrimination. Whenever there is an election, the Congress always brings up an issue," Singh said.

Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj called the leakage of the report shameful. "The report has been leaked by the officials of the Home Ministry. The Government calls it unfortunate but we say it's shameful," she said.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed noisy scenes soon after they assembled for the day with BJP members later storming the well demanding immediate tabling of the voluminous report along with the ATR.

Following slogan shouting and protests by BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar first adjourned the House till 1200 hrs IST and when the ruckus continued it was adjourned till 1400 hrs IST.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Basudeb Acharia, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Dara Singh Chouhan and Biju Janata Dal MP Arjun Charan Sethi supported Avani's demand and criticised the Government for the ''selective leakage''.

Meanwhile, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley blamed the Liberhan Commission for leaking the report

"There are only two copies of this report, there is no third copy. So If the Home Minister is right that he has not leaked it, then the Commission has leaked it. This is a very serious matter and the Parliament has to take it up as to how such a leakage has to take place," said Jaitley.

Also, speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the Liberhan Commission report leak, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury demanded serious inquiry in the issue.

"What appeared in the media is not selective leaks, it's a comprehensive summary which can only come from an authentic source," said Yechury.

Member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Kamal Farooqui, said it was a failure on the part of some Muslims that they couldn't protect the Babri Masjid.

"Some Muslim leaders had failed to prevent despite the fact that it was a 500 year-old mosque, some leaders have misused there positions," said Farooqui.

"Advani and Joshi have already been held responsible by the CBI. Chargesheet has been filed against them. We have maintained that Atalji was also a part of it because there were indications that the Karsewa wouldn't be peaceful as people were carrying weapons with them and that they would do as they were told to do. So we understood that there was something fishy but the nature of the plot surfaced later," said legal adviser of AIMPLB, Zafaryab Jilani.

RSS media in-charge Manmohan Vaid also slammed the Government over the timing of the report. He said that emotional outburst and public anger had led to Babri demolition.

But many questions still remain unanswered:

Why has the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao's role been downplayed?

Why did it take 17 years for preparation of this report?

Why is the report silent on Rajiv Gandhi, widely held responsible for opening locks at disputed site in Ayodhya?

Is LK Advani held guilty of conspiracy of demolishing the Babri Mosque?

Is the Government trying to break Opposition unity seen on sugarcane farmers’ issue?