For all the adjectives and verbs Kalyan Singh may be using now to describe the demolition of the Babri Masjid with an eye on the Samajwadi Party and the elections in his 27-page affidavit dated December 2,2004,which he submitted to the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry probing the demolition,Singh was forthright. He claimed that the demolition of the mosque on December 6,1992,was an act of God and whatever happened on that day,the deponent has no regret,no repentance,no sorrow,and no grief for that. Singh,incidentally,was the last witness to be examined by the Liberhan Commission and his deposition,which runs into 400-plus pages,is the longest in the Commissions record. Spread over 20 sittings,the deposition began on December 3,2004 and finished on June 3,2005. Asked if it was possible that Singh may not be indicted by the Commission for his role in the demolition,Commissions counsel and Punjab and Haryana High Court lawyer Anupam Gupta,who cross-examined him,said,Speaking for myself,no. Speaking to The Indian Express,Gupta said,Kalyan Singh struck me throughout as an intelligent and capable witness who must have been effectively in command as Chief Minister 12 years earlier when the demolition happened. There is no way his position and role as Chief Minister can be disentangled from either the demolition of the Babri Masjid or from the central leadership of the BJP and other key leaders of the Sangh Parivar in relation to the demolition. Singhs views on the Babri Masjid,too,find mention in the affidavit. The deponent firmly believes that the place at the disputed structure in fact was a Ram Temple,it continues to be Ram Temple and will be a Ram Temple and nothing else but a Ram Temple, he asserted in their affidavit. Incidentally,sources in the Liberhan Commission say there was no need for Singh to file any affidavit and it was entirely voluntary. Referring to the demolition,Singh said in his affidavit,.Historians will write that devotees of Ram and devotees of the nation had demolished this symbol of slavery and disgrace and though this demolition was not expected,it was purely sudden and totally unplanned. On March 17,2005,Kalyan filed another short affidavit,in which he cited portions of the report submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the Allahabad High Court. This report talked of the presence of the Ram Mandir on the site of the Babri Masjid.
