Sidelights

When Jagdambika Pal,Congress MP and former UP CM,was speaking,BJPs Shahnawaz Hussain kept waving copies of the...

Confusion over namesakes

When Jagdambika Pal,Congress MP and former UP CM,was speaking,BJPs Shahnawaz Hussain kept waving copies of the report that mentions one Jagdambica Paul as one of those involved in the Mandir movement. Shahnawaz kept demanding to know the identity of the MP,annoying the Speaker considerably. This list of people,appended at the end of the chapter,Sequence of Events in the Liberhan Report,is likely to cause more confusion as the debate continues,as among the list of saints and leaders for the movement are not only one Jagdambica Paul but also Dharinder Brahmachari a known Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi confidante and Prabhat Kumar with the Home Ministry at the time. The list of Muslim leaders has advocate Zafaryab Jilanis name misspelt twice,one Habib and Salahuddin Owaisi spelt differently. Academicians Prof R S Sharma and Dr D N Jha have also been named as those who participated in the negotiations but against whom there is no evidence.

Rajnath analyses genetic pools

Rajnath Singh mentioned several so-called historical facts in his speech such as George V going to the Babri Masjid to pay homage to Lord Ram in Ayodhya in 1911. Several of his comments caused a good deal of commotion with members of the Ittehad-ul-Muslemeen,the Congress and the Muslim League rising on their feet. Singh had things to say on the different genetic pools that Muslims and Hindus come from. The genetic pool of the descendants of Babur, as Rajnath explained,was different,as Babur was born outside India,in Samarkand in Central Asia.

Former UP CMs fight it out

It was like a conclave of former UP chief ministers in the House,desperate to be heard. Mulayam Singh and former CM Jagdambika Pal sparred over the role of A B Vajpayee. Kalyan Singh stood up after each speaker,hoping to get his turn,till the Speaker reminded him that he was yet to allow him to speak. On being urged by the SP MPs sitting close to him,he decided to sit down.

Mulayam deja vu

Mulayam Singh Yadavs 29-minute speech was reminiscent of his fiery days,when the Mandir-Masjid debate was the staple of his politics. He said he was proud of having saved the Masjid in his time,despite 16 people dying,accusing the BJP and the Congress of colluding and being unable to save the thousands who died after Babris fall. He took potshots at Rajnath Singhs insistence that the translation of secularism should be panth-nirapeksh and not dharm-nirapeksh. He also hurled barbs at the Congress for inducting Chhagan Bhujbal,S S Vaghela and Sanjay Nirupam all part of organisations that had helped spread communal discord.

Key protagonist missing

While one of the key protagonists in the whole Babri affair,Kalyan Singh,sat through the whole day,the other leader,L K Advani,preferred not to. After a brief presence,it was just H D Ananth Kumar,Murli Manohar Joshi,Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj in the front row.