Both the Houses of Parliament have been adjourned till noon following uproar over the alleged leakage of Liberhan Commission report on the dispute structure at Ayodhya. In the Lok Sabha, as soon as the house assembled for the day, the members, led by Mr. L K Advani, demanded the immediate tabling of the report. Mr. Advani alleged that one of national news dailies has carried parts of the report, indicting the senior BJP leaders, including the former Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said he was shocked to see the report and wanted the government to immediately table a copy of the report to Parliament. Leaders of the other opposition parties including the CPIM, SP, BJD and BSP also demanded the immediate tabling of the report. The Home Minister, Mr. P Chidambaram assured the House that the report along with the Action Taken Report (ATR) will be tabled in the current session of Parliament. He also said that only one copy of the Commission report is available with his ministry and no body in the ministry has leaked the contents of the report to the media. He also refused to say whether whatever has been reported in the media is correct or not. Earlier, the Speaker, Mrs. Meira Kumar said that while she was not accepting the notices for suspension of the Question Hour over the issue, she was allowing the opposition leaders to air their views. However, even after the Home Minister's assurance, the BJP members had trooped into the well of the house leading to the adjournment of the House till noon.The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for 45 minutes till Noon following noisy scenes over the issue. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Arun Jaitley, demanded the suspension of question hour to discuss the issue. He also wanted that a copy of the Commission's report along with the Action Taken Report be presented to Parliament. The Minster of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, said that the Home Minister will make a statement in the House on the issue. But, the unrelenting opposition continued to raise pitch over the issue and the house was adjourned.BJP and Congress today clashed over the findings of the Liberhan Commission, which is alleged to have indicted senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, among others, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. According to a newspaper report, Justice M S Liberhan, who submitted his findings to the government on June 30, this year after an inquiry lasting nearly 17 years, has called the BJP leaders pseudo-moderates and stated that the entire build-up to the demolition was meticulously planned.However, Justice Liberhan, has declined to comment on the newspaper report. He said the report is with the Parliament and he had not said anything to anybody. Accusing the government of selectively leaking the report to one newspaper, BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said this has been done to divert attention from core issues like price rise and corruption. He said, there is no authenticity of the report and why the government is shying away from tabling the Liberhan report in Parliament. Mr. Rudy alleged that the move is aimed at creating turmoil in Parliament and across the nation. Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi said, this is a leakage and such leakages are, with a political motive. He said the best thing is that the government should place the entire report in Parliament with action taken report.Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that for nearly two decades, the nation as a whole generally knew what had happened and how senior functionaries of a political party watched people causing destruction and mayhem and then shed crocodile tears.
News On AIR | November 23, 2009 11:22 AM
Parliament adjourned amidst uproar over leakage of Liberhan Commission Report