Babri Masjid

The Liberhan Commission of Inquiry that probed the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque found 68 people culpable for leading the country to the brink of communal discord. This includes Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who later became the prime minister.

The names (in the order given by the Commission):

1. Acharya Dharamendra Dev, Dharam Sansad

2. Acharya Giriraj Kishore, VHP: He serves as the senior vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, International wing of the  Hindu Nationalist Sangh Parivar.

3. A.K. Saran, IG. Security, Uttar Pradesh: then Lucknow Zone IG, retired in 2002 as DG (Home Guards) and is now settled in Patna. “My statement before the Commission was recorded in 2001. I had convinced the Commission about my stand during the cross-examination about the role of the IG Zone in the law the order situation in Ayodhya. I do not know what charges the Commission has framed against me that too after an investigation of 17 years,” Saran said.

4. Akhilesh Mehrotra, Add. Superintendent of Police, Faizabad: the then Additional SP of Faizabad, retired as DIG last year.

5. Ashok Singhal, VHP:  is the International President of  Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

6. Ashok Sinha, Secretary, Tourism, Uttar Pradesh

7. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP: served as the eleventh Prime Minister of India. After a brief stint as Prime Minister in 1996. There are at least 22 references to Mr Vajpayee in the over 1029-page Liberhan Commission report but the most critical ones are in its ‘Conclusions’ in Chapter 14 where it goes on to say that former party ideologue K Govindacharya’s description of Mr Vajpayee as BJP’s mukhauta (mask) could in fact be applied to what the commission calls the pseudo-moderates.

8. Badri Prasad Toshniwal, VHP: died in 1994 and was ex president of Sewa Mandir Foundation, Ajmer( Rajsthan)

9. Baikunth Lal Sharma, VHP: former BJP MP from East Delhi.

10. Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena: is the founder and Chief of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu extremist, Marathi ethnocentric and populist party based in Indian state of  Maharashtra.

11. B.P. Singhal, VHP: is brother of VHP leader Ashok Singhal was also BJP Rajya Sabha MP.

12. Braham Dutt Divedi, BJP, Revenue Minister, Uttar Pradesh: Brahm Dutt Dwivedi was a cabinet minister in Government of Uttar Pradesh and a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was murdered in 1998.

13. Champat Rai, Local Construction Manager

14. Dau Dayal Khanna, BJP

15. D.B. Roy, Senior Superintendent of Police, Faizabad: was elected to the Lok Sabha on the BJP ticket twice. Left BJP for going back on promise of Ram Temple and joined Hindu Mahasabha. He became National Working President of Hindu Mahasabha in 2001.

16. Devraha Baba, Sant Samaj: A yogi, who died on May 19, 1990 — over two years before the Babri demolition. His devotees list included from Dr Rajendra Prasad to Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi to Arjun Singh. Devraha Baba set up ashrams in Vrindavan, Deoria and Samastipur.

17. Gurjan Singh, VHP/RSS

18. G.M. Lodha, BJP

19. S. Govindacharya, RSS: one-time RSS pracharak and former BJP general secretary. He was removed from RSS for his dissent including criticising Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee  and government’s economic policies.

20. H.V. Sheshadri, RSS: born in Bangluru in 1926, Seshadri joined RSS in 1946 and rose through the ranks to become its Sarkaryavah (All India  General Secretary) in 1987, a post he held for nine years. Thereafter, he was working as Akhil Bharath prachrak (full-time worker) pramukh. He died on 14th August 2005.

21. Jai Bhhagwan Goyal, Shiv Sena: former Delhi’s Shiv Sena unit chief. He formed Rashtrawadi Shivsena, a breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena on 26th March,2008.

22. Jai Bhan Singh Pawaria, Bajrang Dal: He became the second president of the Bajrang Dal (youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) after Vinay Katiyar.  He was president of Bajrang Dal fro 1995 to 97. He joined BJP and became MP  from Gwalior (MP) in 1999  but he lost the polls in 2004 from Gwalior.

23. K.S. Sudarshan, RSS: was appointed as a pracharak in 1954. In 1969 he was appointed convener of the All-India Organisations’ Heads. He took over as the chief of the Boudhik Cell (the RSS think-tank) in 1979. He was RSS Sarsanghachalak from 2000 to 21st March 2009.

24. Kalraj Mishra, BJP: was born on 1st July 1941 and joined R.S.S. as soon as he grew up. Worked as Pracharak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) in Gorakhpur for 5 years from 1963-1968. Kalraj Mishra was elected the member of Rajya Sabha on 6th April 1978. He was Member, UP Legislative Council from July 1986 to April 2001. He was President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttar Pradesh for four consecutive term from Aug. 1991-March 1997. He was re-elected to Rajya Sabha in April 2006. Currently In-charge, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar.

25. Kalyan Singh, BJP (Chief Minister): born on 5th  January 1932 in Aligarh. He has served two times as the  Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.He first became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in June 1991. His government was dismissed by Central Government on 6th December 1992 after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He again served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh between September 1997 and November 1999.

He left BJP  twice, for the first time in December 1999 and returned to it in January, 2004 before the Lok Sabha elections. Second time he resigned from BJP when he was National Vice President on 20th January 2009. He campaigned for the Samajwadi Party in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. On November 15,2009, after being publicly humiliated by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh reaffirmed his allegiance to the BJP and the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh. He was elected to 15th Lok Sabha as Independent from Etah seat.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI in the Babri Masjid demolition case, just after becoming chief minister, he, with his colleagues, “visited Ayodhaya and took a vow to construct Ram temple there itself.”

26. Khushabhau Thakre, RSS: He was associated with the RSS since 1942. He became Pracharak in 1942 at Neemunch (M.P). He became  All India Secretary Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1976. He  was  appointed All India Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and in-charge of Gujarat, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in 1980.. Remained on this post upto 1984. From 1984 to 1986,was all India Vice-President of BJP. From 1986 to 1991, he was  All India General Secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh. He again became Vice-president and also got charge of Uttar Pradesh in 1991 and remain so till 1993. He also served as President All India Bharatiya Janata Party from 1998 to 2000.

He died on December 28th 2003.

27. Lalji Tandon, BJP: Lalji Tandon was member of State Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh from 1978-84  and 1990-96. He was Energy Minister in Kalyan Singh Government in 1991-92. He was  was elected for 15th  Lok Sabha from Lucknow.

28. Lallu Singh Chauhan, BJP: He has been representing Ayodhya as MLA for past 16 years. Former Vice President of UP State Unit of BJP  was also candidate from Faizabad in last Lok Sabha election. Ayodhaya is part of Faizabad constituency.

29. L.K. Advani, BJP: He was born on 8 November 1927 in Karachi, Pakistan. L.K.Advani began his political career when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (R.S.S.) in 1942. In 1947, he became Secretary, RSS, Karachi.Advani became a member of the Bhartiya Jana Sangh, which was founded in 1950. Between 1980 and 86, Advani was General Secretary and leader of newly formed Bhartiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha. From 1989-91, Advani was Leader of BJP Parliamentary in Lok Sabha and Leader of Opposition.

Advani started his Rath Yatra on 15th Sep 1990 from Somnath to buid Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.  He was finally arrested on 23rd Oct 1990 in Bihar. This Yatra left whole country communally charged and many died in communal violence.

Advani was project as PM candidate by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2009  general election.

30. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das is the President of Ram Janambhoomi Nyaas, the trust which has the sole charge for construction of the temple where the Babri Masjid once stood. A member of the VHP Margdarshak Mandal and the high-powered temple construction committee, he controls dozens of temples in Ayodhya. Das survived an attempt on his life in 2001 and the incident was attributed to a dispute relating to the ownership of the famous Ram Vallabh Kunj complex. The trust owns one third of the property in Ayodhya with sprawling temples and guest houses.

31. Mahant Avaidyanath, Hindu Mahasaba: He was one of the longest serving parliamentarians from Hindu Mahasabha. He represented Gorakhpur four times as MP. He was also once President of Hindu Mahasabha.

32. Mahant Paramhans Ram Chander Dass, VHP:was president of the Ramjanambhoomi Nyas and leading architect of the movement for construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.He was an original plaintiff in the pending title suit relating to Ram temple but had withdrawn it. He died after a protracted illness in Ayodhya in 2003.

33. Moreshwar Dinanant Save, Shiv Sena:represented Aurangabad City in 9th and 10th Lok Sabha on Shiv Sena ticket. He was also Mayor of Aurangabad City.

34. Morpanth Pingale, Shiv Sena

35. Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP: He was the Union Human Resources Development Minister of India in NDA government.He came in contact with the RSS in Delhi at a young age and took part in the Cow Protection Movement in 1953-54.  Joshi first looked after the Central Office as a General Secretary when BJP was formed. He was BJP President from 1991 to 1993.

He was elected to 15th Lok Sabha from Varanasi on BJP ticket.

36. Om Pratap Singh

37. Onkar Bhava, VHP: He joined RSS in 1938. He was Vice President and Joint Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He died in July 2009.

38. Pramod Mahajan, BJP: He was born on 30 October 1949 in Mehbubnagar. He was one of the most powerful second generation leaders of the BJP. Mahajan was a member of the RSS since childhood. He became Secretary of BJP from 1983 to 1986. He became the president of the All India Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha in 1986, a position he held again between 1990 and 1992. He rose to national prominence when he helped organize BJP President L K Advani’s Rath Yatra in 1990.

He was  the Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Food Processing in Vajpayee government.

On 22 April 2006, he was shot at and fatally injured by his brother Pravin Mahajan over a family dispute. He succumbed to his wounds 13 days later.

39. Parveen Togadia, VHP: born in 1957, is the International General Secretary of the VHP, Hindu religious organization. A 'Cancer Surgeon' by profession, he was appointed chief instructor of an RSS officers training camp in 1979 at the age 22.

40. Prabhat Kumar, Principal Secretary, Home, Uttar Pradesh: 1963 batch IAS officer of the UP cadre was principal secretary (Home) on December 6, 1992, rose to become cabinet secretary in 1998 during the NDA rule. Later, he was appointed as Governor of Jharkhand and had to resign on February 1, 2002, following a controversy when businessman Ashok Chaturvedi alleged that Prabhat Kumar had accepted his hospitality.

41. Purshottam Narain Singh, VHP: He is Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand  VHP’s organising secretary.

42. Rajendra Gupta, Minister, Uttar Pradesh: He was Finance Minister in Kalyan Singh’s regime

43. Rajender Singh alias Rajju Bhayya RSS: was born in 29 January 1921.  In 1966 he became a pracharak of the RSS. Rajender Singh was the fourth sarsanghchalak of the RSS from 1994 to 2000.  The Sarsanghchalak is the paramount leader of the RSS.  He died on 14 July 2003

44. Ram Shankar Agnihotri, VHP: He was  editor of Panchjanya. weekly newspaper in Hindi, published by the RSS. The passes for entry into the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex on 6th December 1992 were issued by Ram Shankar Agnihotri

45. Ram Vilas Vedanti: He represented Pratapgarh as MP twice on BJP ticket.  He has been member of Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal of VHP since 1984.

46. R.K. Gupta, BJP, Finance Minister, Uttar Pradesh

47. R.N. Shrivastava, District Magistrate, Faizabad: former district magistrate of Faizabad, is the neighbour of the firebrand Hindutva leader Vinay Katiyar, Rajya Sabha MP, in Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow. He has since retired. He says the Liberhan Commission is “irrelevant” in his case, because he was suspended after the demolition and his prosecution was also ordered; the case is pending in a Lucknow court.

48. Sadhvi Ritambara, Sant Samaj: She was the founding chairperson of Durga Vahini (Army of Durga), the women’s wing of  Vishwa Hindu Parishad. he is particularly known for her incendiary anti-Muslim oratory.

Sadhvi Rithambara was one of the leaders who incited right-wing Hindu activists to demolish the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. During the movement, she was known to have called for a khoon-kharaba (bad blood) to settle scores with the minority community. Rithambara entered public life and the  Sangh Parivar as a trainee and member of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, which is the women’s arm of the RSS, but gained prominence as a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

49. Shankar Singh Vaghela, BJP: Born in 1940, he was Organising and General Secretary of Bhartiya Jan Sangh from 1971-77. He was General Secretary and President of BJP Gujarat from 1980-91. In 1991 he was elected to 10th Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket. He rebelled against the BJP leadership in 1997. He was Chief Minister of Gujarat from 23 October 1996 to  27 October 1997.

He joined Congress in 2000. He was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 and re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004, becoming Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles on May 23, 2004. Lost last general election on Congress ticket from Panchmahal.

50. Satish Pradhan, Shiv Sena: He was the first Mayor of Thane in 1986-87.  In July 1992 Elected to Rajya Sabha Sept and 1992 onwards he was  Leader of Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party Member. In 1998, he was re elected to Rajya Sabha. He quit Shiv Sena in 2005 to join Nationalist Congress Party. He left NCP in 2007 to join Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS). He resigned from MNS General Secretary post in September and quit party in October 2009.

51. Shri Chander Dikshit, BJP: He was BJP MP from Varanasi in 10th Lok Sabha. He started his career as First Class Magistrate and served as SDM, PCS (Executive) Uttar Pradesh from July 1948-October 1950.

Joined IPS service and served as S.P.-Barabanki, Faizabad, Etah; Additional SP-Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur Kumbh Mela; SSP -Aligarh, Varanasi; DIG of Police-Bareilly, Meerut, Gorakhpur betweem  1950-70.

Deputy Director Intelligence Bureau-1970-75 and  received Indian Police Medal for long and meritorious service in 1973.  IG- CID, Intelligence, Director General of Home Guards and Civil Defence, UP from 1975-82. Director-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh from 1982-84.

After retirement in 1984 became Member of VHP and its Kendriya Upadhyaksh. He was also  Life Member of Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi Nyas. He also served as  Member, Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi Mukti Yajna Samiti.

52. Sita Ram Agarwal: He was all-India secretary of VHP.

53. S.P. Gaur, Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh: 1974 batch IAS officer of the UP cadre, is presently chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India under the Ministry of Shipping and Transport. He was summoned by the Commission in 1996. “I have learnt through media reports that my name has appeared in the report of the Commission, but nothing has been officially communicated to me. I will comment only after studying the report,” said Gaur.

54. Sunder Singh Bhandari, BJP: He was founder member of Jana Sangh. He served in various organisational posts in Jan Sangha and later in the BJP. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan during 1966-1972 and from Uttar Pradesh in 1976 and also in 1992.

He was appointed Governor of Bihar in 1998. H served as the governor of Gujarat from March 18, 1999 to May 6, 2003. He died on June 22, 2005

55. Surya Pratap Sahi: He was minister in the Kalyan Singh Government.He is UP BJP state vice-president.

56. Swami Chinmayanand, VHP: He was minister of state for internal affairs in Vajpayee Ministry. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Jaunpur on BJP ticket. Just before he was made  minister, the VHP had appointed Chinmayanand to head a committee which  lobbied with MPs for a legislation in favour of building a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. He was also member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Kendriya Marg Darshak Mandal. He was Member of Parliament  in 10th, 12th and 13th Lok Sabha.

57. Swami Sachidanand Sakshi alias Sakshiji Maharaj,BJP: Swami Sakshi Ji Maharaj was expelled from  Rajya Sabha for  involvement  in an MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) scam. A sting operation by a TV channel, which showed Maharaj demanding money from contractors for giving then work for projects under the MPLAD scheme. He was elected to Rajya Sabha on Samajwadi Party ticket. He was also elected to 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha on BJP ticket.

58. S.V.M. Tripathi, Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh: the then DGP, has since retired. “I cannot comment on my indictment till I go through the specific reasons given by the Liberhan Commission in the report. I am also not aware about the details of the ATR tabled before the House. The Babri demolition at Ayodhya took place on December 6 and I went on deputation to Delhi on December 22 as CRPF director-general and retired from the same post in 1996,” Tripathi said. The former DGP said he appeared before the Commission on May 1, 2002 where his statement was recorded and he was cross-examined. “I also submitted my affidavit.”

59. Swami Satmit Ramji, Sant Samaj

60. Swami Satyanandji, Sant Samaj

61. Swami Vam Devji, Sant Samaj

62. Uma Bharti, VHP: At a young age, she became involved with the BJP. She contested her first Parliamentary elections in 1984, but lost. In 1989, she successfully contested the Khajurao seat, and retained it in elections conducted in 1991, 1996 and 1998. In 1999, she switched over and won the Bhopal seat. In the Vajpayee Administration, she held various state-level portfolios of Human Resource Development, Tourism, Youth Affairs & Sports, and finally Coal & Mines.She  along with Sadhvi Ritambhara, played a prominent part in the Ayodhya Movement.

She was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 8th December 2003 to 23rd Aug 2004.

Firstly, in November 2004, she was suspended from the BJP.However, due to RSS pressure, her suspension was revoked and in May 2005. She was again expelled from the BJP when she revolted against the appointment of Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

She formed Bharatiya Janshakti Party in the city of Ujjain on 30 April, 2006.

63. U.P. Bajpayee, Deputy Inspector General, Faizabad: the then Faizabad Range DIG, retired as IG in 1995 and is settled in Allahabad. Bajpai said, “I explained my role and stand when my statement was recorded in 2000. What else I can say except that let the government decide over the action to be taken against me.”

64. Vijaya Raje Scindia, BJP: She was  an active member, for many decades, of the Jana Sangh and the BJP. Vijayaraje came to the forefront of the BJP leadership in 1980 when she was made one of its vice-presidents. She played a key role in propagating the party’s Ramjanmabhoomi agenda and was considered a hardliner. She remained a BJP vice-president until 1998 when she stepped down on health grounds and quit electoral politics. She died in January 2001.

65. V.K. Saxena, Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh

66. Vinay Katiyar, RSS: He was the founder-President of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Faizabad to the 10th, 11th and 13th Lok Sabha. He was the President of the Uttar Pradesh State Unit of the BJP from 2002 to July 18, 2004. He is presently a Rajya Sabha MP  from UP.

He calls, the day Babri Masjid was brought down by Karsevaks as “happiest day” of his life.

68. Youdh Nath Pandey, Shiv Sena

source: Indianexpress,