Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Seventeen years is a long time,and the world has changed around Justice Liberhan,when Justice Liberhan could have changed the world. The one-man commission of inquiry that bears his name was appointed barely two weeks after the Babri demolition that it was supposed to look into; he was supposed to have looked at the facts and submitted a report on March 16,1993,a length of time clearly thought adequate. Instead,he asked for and received nearly 50 extensions. After all,running an inquiry commission means that you are entitled to the resources available to a Supreme Court judge; and thus theres little incentive to end them quickly. The Liberhan Commission may have cost about Rs 9 crore,of which reportedly the major proportion is salaries and perquisites,not operating expenses. Delays in debriefing witnesses dont wash as an excuse: it hasnt seen a witness for half a decade,but it still didnt get out a report. In the interim,Indias politics suffered from the states inability to start getting at the poisonous facts of this case. That is something for which Justice Liberhan should stand indicted himself in the court of public opinion.
In the political uproar that will inevitably follow the release of an inquiry report into what is still regarded by some as independent Indias most traumatic and divisive event,it is worth our while to pause and consider the extraordinary disservice that this delay has done to Indias politics and to our progress. For one,setting a precedent for unending inquiries encourages the political leadership to postpone any tough decisions by sending them off to an interminable commission.
