Babri Masjid Demolition Was 'Spontaneous'? Not According To Justice Liberhan Commission

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court on Wednesday gave a clean chit to all the 32 accused of conspiring the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Among the accused were Bharatiya Janata Party stalwarts like L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, etc. The court called the event a 'Spontaneous act' by anti-social elements.

The Liberhan Commission set up under the leadership of Justice M.S.Liberhan, to investigate the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya that took place on December 6, 1992.

The commission submitted the inquiry report to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009. It brought out several crucial facts related to the event and the act of demolition being 'spontaneous' was not one of them.

An event like Babri Demolition required pre-requisites and finances for support. The findings of the commission revealed that money was channelled through various bank accounts held under the names of various organisations, all of them linked to the Sangh Parivar.

The report also stated that the RSS, BJP, VHP and many other members of the Sangh Parivar raised funds to support the movement of people from time to time, and the recipient organisations mainly included the Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas, Bharat Kalyan Pratishtan, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Paduka Pujan Nidhi, Shri Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Shri Ram Shila Pujan and Jan Hiteshi.

"The utilisation of such large amount of funds is a categorical pointer to the planning and pre-planning carried out for the entire process of the movement commencing with mobilisation onwards right up till the very demolition itself," the report said.

The leaders of the movement claimed that the act of demolition was a sheer outcome of the heat of the moment and that it was carried out by the 'Karsevaks' spontaneously out of anger and emotions, but the evidence put forth by the committee pointed otherwise.

According to the commission, the mode of assault, the small number of karsevaks who carried out the demolition, and the constraints of the space to accommodate the number of people, hidden faces of the karsevaks entering the domes, the removal of the idols and the cash box from under the dome, and its reinstallation in the provisionary temple, construction of the makeshift temple, availability of instruments for demolition and the swift construction of the temple, clearly pointed towards the event being pre-planned.

"The involvement of a huge number of karsevaks for carrying out the demolition, ordinarily, could not have been kept secret from people like the chief minister who admittedly has several sources of information. Or from KS Sudershan who was heading the RSS while their workers (swayamsevaks) were detailed on the spot for every action required to be carried out," the report said.

To keep the sequence of events away from the eyes of common people steps were taken to keep a check on the media reporting from the ground.

They were physically prevented from taking photographs their equipment was smashed, and the exposed films were ruined, the report said.

"These were pre-planned attacks and had been demonstrably assigned to a specialised team of RSS cadre," the report concluded.

This event could have been prevented by administrative planning and action but there were no steps taken to stop the demolition and to prevent the spread of communal hatred, Justice Liberhan told The Indian Express. "Some may have had a pious intent, but for politicians, it was one of the most important means to generate votes in their favour," he added.

Several organisations and political parties like Congress, DMK, All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and the CBI itself are planning to challenge the special court judgement. According to The Times of India report, CBI will plan on challenging the special court verdict after consulting the legal department.