New Delhi: Seventeen years after it was set up by the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao to inquire into the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Liberhan Commission submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
The Babri demolition probe is finally over, 17 years after the event that changed communal politics in India and deepened religious divides ever since.
December 6, 1992 -- a day of national shame, an act that polarised the country's politics and is still a black day in India's history. A historic structure was brought down by mobs of kar sevaks watched by many of the BJP's top leadership including LK Advani.
The contents of the 4,000-page report may be sealed for now but the ghost of Babri is well and truly back.
Liberhan report:
- 17 years
- 48 extensions
- Rs 8 crore spent
Retired Justice Liberhan finally ended his probe giving the PM four volumes of his findings, the contents are still secret.
Justice Liberhan says his job is now over.
"No pressure on me. Can't disclose anything of the report," said Justice M S Liberhan (Retd), headed Babri demolition probe.
Almost as soon as that report was handed over to the Prime Minister the Congress and the BJP started to take pot shots at each other.
The big question however is after so many years who will actually be held accountable?
- The man whose Rath Yatra in the months before the demolition helped BJP electorally yet later described this as the saddest day of his life.
- Or a radical sanyasin, who allegedly cheered kar sewaks on or a professor politician who openly celebrated.
For now even without any details the political battle is on.
"All conspiracy was hatched through the medium of Rath Yarta? People were brought in, there was an exhortation," said Digvijay Singh, General Secretary, Congress.
"The entire reaction of the Congress party particularly Digvijay Singh is utterly irresponsible. Our leaders tried to stop the demolition. All the evidence is there," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Spokesperson, BJP.
But the culpability could go beyond the BJP. What for example will the report say on the role of former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who many say, waited too long to take action or send in paramilitary force or then Home Minister SB Chavan.
The government may make it public in the Parliament session beginning on Thursday. It may wait for the budget to be passed before embarking on what could be a nasty clash with the BJP in Parliament. Or it may put off publicising the report for a much later date.
The Babri Masjid structure was a blot on India's secular fabric -- 17 years is a long time -- but the government has realized that every step it takes will be watched closely by the country.
Since December 6, 1992 the nation has moved on but can the demolition report bring the Mandir-Masjid issue back to centrestage?