Pundits say the Opposition is trying to damage the report's credibility to save its leaders
Pundits say the Opposition is trying to damage the report's credibility to save its leaders
Why was the Babri Masjid demolition report leaked to the media? This question is raising more question than answers. And it has pushed to the backburner the original query: who leaked the report in the first place?u00a0
While some are pointing towards the timing of the leak, others believe that motive goes beyond just planting a news item in the media.
|
|
Justice Liberhan Commission took 17 years and 48 extensions to submit its report to the government |
As Parliament witnessed repeated adjournments on Monday, political analysts spent the day in churning out theories one after the other to explain the shocking development. The government looked clearly uncomfortable as the national media beamed pictures of Opposition leaders LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh and Sitaram Yechury attacking it the entire day and a resolute Union Home Minister P Chidambaram assuring both the Houses that there was no way the government could have leaked the controversial report.
Political analysts said the ultimate defence that the government has is that the report was ready to be tabled in Parliament along with the action taken report and so, there is no justification to explain the leak from the treasury benches' side.
However, some others countered saying it might be a ploy to divert attention from the Madhu Koda scam as Assembly elections in Jharkhand are round the corner.
However, one of the most striking factors that flashed across the day on news channels was the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee featuring in the report. All across the 17 years of the tenure and 48 extensions of the Liberhan Commission, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name was never mentioned in reference to the case. And the Opposition took their agenda forward on the same lines.
"Mr Vajpayee was never called to be examined by Justice Liberhan. How could he be indicted without being given a chance to be heard?" Anupam Gupta, former standing counsel of Liberhan Commission, told a news channel.
When asked who stands to gain from the leak the most, political experts said both sides can play the issue to their benefit. If on one hand it could help the Opposition to tarnish the credibility of the commission of inquiry and save the faces of one of its tallest leaders, on the other hand it might help the government to divert attention from the corruption cases against Madhu Koda and price rise. Meanwhile, as the political drama unfolded, Justice Liberhan shouted at newspersons who asked them how the report leaked to the media. "I am not as easily accessible to you," he yelled at a TV reporter on Monday.
Throughout the day it could not be established whether the leak was genuine or not, as Home Minister P Chidambaram expressly rejected the allegations saying: "I must be a very foolish man to leak it and embarrass myself. There is only one copy of the report. It is in my custody. No one has spoken to any journalist."
The report, which the government had assured to table in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, has only one copy which is with the Home Ministry.
Some political analysts say the "mastermind" must have thought that the leak would bring together all the anti-BJP forces who will demand stricter action against LK Advani and other leaders of the saffron party.
Meanwhile, political leaders across party lines said the newspaper that reported the leak be pulled up, saying it was a clear breach of Parliamentary privilege.
(with inputs from Surender Sharma)
Panel gyaan
Liberhan Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge MS Liberhan, was constituted on December 16, 1992 by an order of the Union Home Ministry following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6 and the riots in Ayodhya. The Commission was expected to submit its report within three months.
After a delay of 17 years, the commission submitted the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009
Rs 8 crore
Money spent on the Liberhan Commission
