Mayawati warns against unrest over Ayodhya

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati warned on Wednesday that her government would take strict action against anyone creating law and order problems over the Ayodhya temple-mosque row.

Reacting after the report of the Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri mosque razing was tabled in parliament on Tuesday, Mayawati hit out at both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"Without their collusion and conspiracy, the disputed structure could never have been demolished," she said, referring to the destruction by Hindu activists of the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

She warned that if anyone disrupted law and order in Uttar Pradesh over this issue, "then my government will take strict action".

Mayawati also accused retired judge MS Liberhan of trying to shield the Congress over the mosque destruction and demanded to know why he took 17 years to prepare the report.

"I want to make this clear that the dispute is in court. We will abide by whatever the judiciary says," she said.

The Congress and BJP have "always divided people on caste and religious lines? for their political ends".

"Everyone knows that there was a Congress government in the centre and a BJP government in Lucknow when the disputed structure was destroyed in 1992. Without their collusion, the disputed structure could not have been destroyed."

The Babri mosque demolition triggered widespread communal violence across India leaving hundreds dead. The issue, she said, continues to polarise the country.