Union home minister P Chidambaram described December 6, 1992, as a “black day in the history of the country” and promised criminal action against those responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition.
Significantly, he also admitted that former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao had erred in accepting the promises made by UP chief minister Kalyan Singh and the BJP leadership.
“He was seduced by the lies of the BJP. They broke every single promise made to the government and Supreme Court on kar seva at the disputed site in Ayodhya,” he said.
The promise of criminal action came during the course of the home minister’s reply in Lok Sabha to the debate on Liberhan report. Chidambaram’s speech was delivered amid pandemonium as slogan-shouting BJP MPs stormed the well of the house to protest some remarks Congress MP Beni Prasad Verma made against former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The speaker expunged these remarks.
The home minister minced no words in accusing the RSS and BJP of demolishing the mosque. He made a distinction between Vajpayee and other BJP leaders, saying the former PM was not present in Ayodhya on December 6. He was less forgiving of the others. “LK Advani had unrestricted access to all information on what was happening on December 6, 1992. The Sangh Parivar went with the intention of destroying the structure.”
The home minister rejected the BJP’s argument that spontaneous action by kar sevaks led to the demolition. It was a pre-planned, cold-blooded destruction of the mosque, he said.
“The RSS controlled every aspect of Ayodhya movement, and it has no shame or remorse over what happened,” he said.
While the courts will deliver justice, the people of India had already delivered theirs, he said. “They had to choose between two ideas of India — an inclusive, all-embracing secular India and one that seeks to divide the country on religion and caste. Both in 2004 and 2009, the people chose the India of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose”.
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