TALKING TERMS: He doesn't roar but mews Nov 21, 2009
That is why he could gloat over his 'achievements' that included the felling of the Babri masjid and the wave of violence he unleashed against Muslims in Mumbai. None of this would have been possible had his declared adversaries, the Congress and especially the NCP, not played footsie with him. (India Times, India)
Parliament's winter session from tomorrow Nov 18, 2009
The report of the Liberhan enquiry commission which went into the demolition of Babri masjid is likely to be tabled in Parliament that is expected to lead to some commotion between the UPA and the BJP. The Action Taken Report will also be tabled along with the report of the Commission. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who had just convened a meeting of leaders of political parties to discuss ways and means to ensure smooth conduct of the proceedings, had spoken in a lighter vein of the session... (India Times, India -- Community News)
Comment: Hand's Up Nov 12, 2009
The induction of Kalyan Singh, infamous as the CM who presided over the demolition of Babri masjid in 1992, alienated many Muslims who had supported the SP since the 1990s. Also, some of SP's campaigns - anti-English and anti-technology - are out of sync with the aspirations of the youth and middle classes. (India Times, India)
Jamiat upholds fatwa against Vande Mataram Nov 4, 2009
He also criticised the demolition of Babri Masjid and said it was the duty of the majority to look after the minorities. In other resolutions the Jamiat adopted, it opposed the proposed Central Madrasa Board as an intrusion in the running of madrasas while also saying that education of girls after 10 years of age should be in accordance to "complete Sharia norms.". (India Times, India)
Top Article: Few Cheers For Advani Sep 10, 2009
Consider his self-serving accounts of the felling of the Babri masjid, massacre of Muslims in Gujarat, attacks on Christians and the cultural policing by the parivar goons. The most recent example was his endorsement of Jinnah's secular credentials. (India Times, India)
Left confused, Right ragged to Centre? Aug 30, 2009
Left confused, Right ragged back to the Centre. - Special Report - Sunday TOI - NEWS - The Times of India. (India Times, India)
Comment: Lost Horizon Aug 25, 2009
The Yadav-Muslim alliance that emerged in the wake of the demolition of Babri masjid has started unravelling in the two states. These are likely to impact SP in UP and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar. (India Times, India)
President, PM, Sonia pay homage to IUML leader Thangal Aug 2, 2009
Condolence messages continue to pour in lauding his services, especially his role in preserving communal and social harmony at the most trying time 00004000 s like demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 ... Thangal's call to his community to exercise restraint in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition was hailed by one and all. (India Times, India -- Community News)
BJP not apologetic over demolition of Babri Masjid Jul 19, 2009
PTI 13 July 2009, 09:06pm IST. NEW DELHI: BJP has said the party was "not at all apologetic" about the demolition of the "disputed structure" in Ayodhya in 1992. (India Times, India)
S Dasgupta: A truth nobody will admit Jul 5, 2009
The long campaign for a grand Ram temple on the site of the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was, at a very basic level, an issue of faith ... This resulted in the Babri Masjid becoming, for all practical purposes, a Ram temple ... The equally contentious issue of whether or not a temple predated the Babri Masjid was referred to the Supreme Court after the 1992 demolition. (India Times, India)
A tryst with India's communal past Jul 4, 2009
NEW DELHI - The demolition of the Babri Masjid (mosque) by Hindu fanatics on December 6, 1992, at Ayodhya in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh is a blot on India's contemporary history ... Though India has witnessed much worse, such as the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which hundreds were massacred, the destruction of the Babri Masjid was a symbolic insult to the minority Muslim community in India and demonstrated the failure of the state machinery to... (Asia Times Online)
Kalyan Singh seeks tabling of Liberhan report at the earliest Jul 2, 2009
NEW DELHI: Former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who was the UP Chief Minister when Babri Masjid was demolished, today asked the government to table at the earliest the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament along with the Action Taken Report ... Former BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who was the UP Chief Minister when Babri Masjid was demolished, today asked the government to table at the earliest the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament along with the Action Taken Report. (India Times, India -- Community News)
EDIT: Omission Of Inquiry Jul 2, 2009
The Justice Liberhan Commission was set up around 10 days after the Babri masjid demolition in 1992. From then on, it had 399 sittings and was given 48 extensions. (India Times, India)
Liberhan Commission submits report Jul 1, 2009
NEW DELHI: The Liberhan Commission, which was set up by the P V Narasimha Rao government to inquire into the circumstances leading to the Babri Masjid demolition, submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday after 17 years, 48 extensions and 300 hearings, making it the longest probe panel ... The timing of the reports presentation hold ominous portends for the BJP which had spearheaded the campaign for the demolition of the Babri Masjid ... A galaxy of its top... (India Times)
A judicial commission investigating the nearly 17-year-old demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya presented its report to Prime Minister Jul 1, 2009
Babri Masjid demolition report finally submitted after 17 years. NEW DELHI: A judicial commission investigating the nearly 17-year-old demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya presented its report to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
Ayodhya attack report submitted Jul 1, 2009
A report on the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque, which sparked nationwide communal riots, has been submitted to the Indian government ... The site of the 16th Century Babri Masjid mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya had been a focus for Hindu-Muslim hostility for decades. (BBC News -- South Asia)
Report icing on Congress cake Jul 1, 2009
NEW DELHI: The Congress, which thanked justice M S Liberhan on Tuesday for submitting his long-awaited report on the Babri Masjid demolition, has more than one reason to express gratitude to the retired judge ... Congress thanked Liberhan for his long-awaited report on Babri masjid. (India Times)
File: Liberhan Commission probing Babri demolition gets 48th extension Jun 30, 2009
NEW DELHI: Liberhan Commission, which has been looking into the circumstances leading to the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on Dec 6, 1992, gets another extension of three months till June 30 ... The commission gets 3 months to submit its report into the Babri Masjid demolition, making it one of the longest and costliest enquiries ever conducted in India. (India Times, India)
17 years later, Liberhan Commission submits Babri report to PM Jun 30, 2009
NEW DELHI: Seventeen years after it was set up, the Liberhan Commission probing the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on Tuesday submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The commission, which had got 48 extensions, submitted the report to the Prime Minister by Retd Justice M S Liberhan in presence of home minister P Chidambaram. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Babri report submitted 17 yrs after demolition Jun 30, 2009
NEW DELHI: Seventeen years after it was set up, the Liberhan Commission probing the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on Tuesday submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. ( ). (India Times, India)
COMMENT: Press The Reset Button Jun 1, 2009
Attacked for his record on terrorism, Singh counter-punched by recalling Advani's hand-wringing as home minister during a string of terrorist attacks, including on Parliament; release of hardcore terrorists to the Taliban in Kandahar; the year-long military mobilisation against Pakistan that led nowhere; the Babri masjid demolition; and the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat. The Congress's share of the votes went up by about the same amount as the BJP's fell. (India Times, India)
The changing equation in Uttar Pradesh May 17, 2009
Political pundits have long expected the Muslim community in the so-called cow belt to vote tactically with the single purpose of keeping out the BJP. The trend gained momentum after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, with the community largely rallying behind the SP, and voting en-masse for other candidates only when it was convinced the SP could not win. They now seem to have returned to Congress. (India Times)
Advani steps into sunset of discontent May 17, 2009
If the demolition of Babri masjid made him anathema for liberals, he was the tough guy for those who saw merit in his argument that secularism needed to be redefined in a manner that rejected Congress's flip-flop minorityism. He also attracted those increasingly weary of a reactive approach to Pakistan's terrorist aggression against India. (India Times, India)
Jaya Prada to lodge complaint against Azam Khan with EC May 11, 2009
When asked if Khan was indirectly hitting at Kalyan Singh by doing so, she said, "if that was the case then why he (Khan) is supporting Congress which was equally responsible for Babri Masjid demolition". "It is ethically and morally wrong on the 00004000 part of the senior leader Khan for supporting the candidature of her opponent Noor Bano," she added. (India Times, India -- Community News)
COMMENT: Faith No Bar May 8, 2009
The last big spurt of rioting occurred in early 1993 in (then) Bombay in the wake of the demolition of the Babri masjid in far off Ayodhya ... On December 6, 1992, when the Babri masjid was demolished by those bearing allegiance to the sangh parivar, for many of us reared in the tradition of secularism posited on the separation of religion and state which bordered on atheism the world crashed. (India Times, India)
Azam not quitting SP, refuses to campaign alongside Kalyan May 5, 2009
Khan, however, said his conscience will not allow him to campaign alongside Kalyan Singh, who was UP's chief minister when the Babri Masjid was razed in 1992. "The SP needs to develop its own leadership of the Lodha community (to which Kalyan Singh belongs) and I am ready to contribute for the same in any way possible. But I cannot campaign for the party alongside Kalyan Singh," Khan said, adding that Kalyan Singh's coming together with the SP is the most "shameful" and "unfortunate" act. (India Times, India -- Community News)
If Kalyan is in, count me out, says Azam May 4, 2009
In another reference, Khan said: "If he (Kalyan) is so sorry about the Babri Masjid demolition and claims that he was misled by his party, then the first thing he should do is lodge an FIR against all those who misled him into the crime, withdraw his 100-paged affidavit filed with the Liberhan Commission and announce himself as the approver for CBI. But he will not do it. Because he does not mean what he says. Its just posturing.". Text. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Kalyan a convict in Babri demolition case: Lalu May 2, 2009
PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday attacked former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, calling him "a convict" in the Babri Masjid demolition case. "He (Kalyan) is a convict in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He is not a member of the SP. Is he a member of SP?" Lalu said, when his opinion was sought on the former UP CM's call to Muslims to defeat the BJP. ... RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday attacked former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, calling him "a... (India Times, India -- Community News)
Varun Gandhi walks out of Etah jail Apr 19, 2009
Expressing reservations over Varun's undertaking, he said, "The UP government knows of an undertaking given in 1992 and how it was violated to disastrous effect." Salve was recalling an undertaking given by then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh to do everything to protect Babri masjid from kar sevaks, but not keeping his word leading to demolition of the disputed structure. The objection takes on significance in view of the charge from Samajwadi Party as well as the Congress that Mayawati... (India Times, India)
Lalu attacks Congress on Babri Apr 19, 2009
Mr Yadav charged that the Congress was responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition ... Not only BJP, Congress is also equally responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya ... When the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, Congress Party was in power at the Centre. (India Times)
Do you agree with Lalu Prasad's statement that Congress was responsible for Babri demolition? Apr 19, 2009
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Prasad had exposed himself totally by suddenly raking up the Babri Masjid issue. "If Prasad wants to expose the Congress party, then he should do so fully. The Congress too needs to tell the nation why such people have been saved for 12 years," said the JD(U) leader who, according to indications, may be wooed by the Congress post-poll. (India Times, India)
More than a tale of two personalities Apr 17, 2009
Advani has lit into Manmohan in his usual vein, once calling him "nikamma (a colorful Hindi word for a good-for-nothing). Now Manmohan is turning the tables on him, saying Advani was "weeping in a corner" while the Babri Masjid (mosque) was being demolished by right-wing Hindu hoodlums in 1992, and "wringing his hands" as home minister while the bloody Gujarat riots of 2002 were raging. This slugfest may have made the election a little more interesting for the news channels and bored urban class... (Asia Times Online)
Varun out on parole Apr 17, 2009
The former solicitor-general referred to the undertaking given to the SC by the Kalyan Singh government on the Babri Masjid and said: We know what happened in 1992 after giving an undertaking. This was objected to by Mr Gandhis counsel. (India Times)
PM: Iron Man melted during hijack drama Apr 14, 2009
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday rained punches on the leader of the opposition, L K Advani, saying, "Loud speaking is no indication of strength. He has the unique ability to combine strength in speech with weakness in action.'' What followed was as subtle as a sledgehammer. "Unlike Advani, I will not weep in a corner while hoodlums tear down a centuries-old mosque,'' he said in a reference to the destruction of Babri Masjid in December 1992. He then tore into the tough image of Advani,... (India Times, India)
Congress for target 2014 Apr 10, 2009
Mr Sherwani returned to Congress, which he left following the Babri Masjid demolition, after being denied a ticket by SP. In 1989 and 1991, Mr Sherwani contested as a Congress candidate from Etah and Budayun, respectively, and lost on both occasions. His winning streak began in 1998, when he c 00004000 ontested on SP ticket making a perfect combination of Muslim and Yadav vote. (India Times)
Babri solution through Hindu-Muslim dialogue: Kalyan Apr 9, 2009
Singh, who recently aligned with the Samajwadi Party and has owned "moral responsibility" for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, said, "it is my firm conviction that any attempt to enforce a solution by enacting new laws without taking the sentiments of both sections into consideration would only lead to further acrimony and bolster divisive forces in the country". In an interview to PTI, 77-year-old Singh, who parted ways with the BJP in the run-up to the general elections, says the... (India Times, India -- Community News)
Nafisa vows to be asset for Lucknow Apr 7, 2009
About Kalyan Singh's apology on the Babri Masjid demolition issue, the SP candidate said, "he has already admitted his wrong doing and role in the demolition. There was a Congress government at the Centre and that too failed to discharge its duty in protecting the mosque. Now that Kalyan's aim is to uproot the BJP from UP, he must be given a chance.". Regarding her exit from Congress and entry into SP, Ali says, "Amar Singh's forthright approach is what I liked the most. Initially I was to be... (India Times, India)
EDIT: Anything Goes Apr 6, 2009
But the BJP still expects to build a Ram temple at the exact spot where they brought down the Babri masjid. Will someone please tell them it's the 21st century now. (India Times, India)
Women don't have to be mothers to feel maternal: Maya Apr 5, 2009
Justifying Varun's NSA detention, Mayawati said, ``In case speeches had caused riots like it happened in 1992 after Babri Masjid demolition, hundreds of mothers in India would have been rendered childless ... Mulayam has given shelter to Kalyan Singh, a convict in the Babri Masjid demolition case, so it's clear that BJP and SP are hand-in-glove in the Pilibhit hate speech case,'' she said. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Advani challenges PM Manmohan to TV debate Mar 27, 2009
Advani held out his "offer" after Singh said recently during a function to release the Congress manifesto that the BJP's prime ministerial hopeful had done little other than presiding over the destruction of the Babri masjid. He said Advani's record as home minister was marred by attack on Parliament and the communal killings in Gujarat. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Advani is the weakest man: Ravi Mar 26, 2009
Reacting to Advani's allegations that he is a 'weak' Prime Minister, Singh had said the BJP leader had played a "prominent role" in the Babri Masjid demolition, presided over Gujarat riots and failed to prevent terror attacks on Parliament and Red Fort as Home Minister. Advani was a person who created divisions in society through the Rath Yatra, Ravi alleged. (Sify.com, India)
Secular forces will go back to BJP Mar 19, 2009
"Advani's Rath Yatra and the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya divided Indian society," Ravi said. He claimed that the policies and schemes introduced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Bharat Nirman would help it win people's support in the elections. (Sify.com, India)
Amar Singh snubs Cong's Arjun Mar 11, 2009
In a stern message to the Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on last Sunday said it had no moral right to comment on the relationship between his party and former BJP leader Kalyan Singh as the grand old party was in power at the Centre when the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground. I want to advise the Congress to keep away from the issue of Kalyan Singhs friendship with the SP as it did not have the moral right to do so, Mulayam Singh Yadav had said. (India Times)
Cong sorry for Babri Masjid demolition Mar 8, 2009
Congress apologises for Babri Masjid demolition - Sify ... Congress apologises for Babri Masjid demolition ... Lucknow: Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday apologised for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 when the party was in power at the national level. (Sify.com, India)
COMMENT: Riding The Hindutva Tiger Mar 4, 2009
Rather, it saw a straight line from rising voting percentages after the Babri masjid demolition to untrammelled power in New Delhi and ultimately to the establishment of Hindu rashtra. "We are all kar sevaks now," a saffron scribe crowed at the time. (India Times, India)
S Desai: Tokenism & symbolism Mar 2, 2009
The Babri Masjid is a case in point, where a disused mosque became a sign of something much larger. The reason why this symbol worked and another like the Ram Setu didnt lies perhaps in the fact the former collapsed within it a larger historical angst about perceived subjugation, while the latter was at best indicative of governmental indifference about the veracity of our mythological epics. (India Times, India)
Indians turn secular when it suits us? Mar 2, 2009
On this issue -- the polity's convenient shuffling between secularism and fanaticism -- the Supreme Court had in 1994 come out with some powerful comments, even if we choose not to focus on its main ruling on acquisition of disputed land after the unfortunate demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Ismail Faruqui vs Union of India 1994 SCC (6) 360. (India Times, India)
SP says open to 'modified' BJP Feb 19, 2009
Still under attack for association with Kalyan, Mulayam said they had never given the former BJP chief minister a clean chit on the Babri Masjid issue ... I have been told that his association would strengthen the party and at the same time weaken the BJP. Incidentally, the actors father Sunil Dutt was the only Congress MP to have resigned after the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6,1992 ... The SP leaders also criticised both the BJP and Congress for unnecessarily raking up the Babri... (Indian Express)
Alliance with Cong intact despite rift over Kalyan: Amar Feb 17, 2009
After the demolition of Babri Masjid, Congress had said that they would re-build the mosque there, BJP said they would build a temple while BSP's founder Kanshi Ram had said that a toilet should be built there, Singh recalled. Questioning the Congress role during the demolition period, the SP leader said, "After only five per cent of the mosque was demolished, there was President's rule in UP. The balance 95 per cent of the mosque was demolished during President's Rule in the state when the... (India Times, India)
What ails Indian Muslims? Negativism Feb 17, 2009
Many felt that way and even worse after the 2002 Gujarat riots, the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition and earlier violence elsewhere. But Muslim leaders and clergy that continue to have a stranglehold on the community have neither tried to fight the pessimism among their people nor tried to do something that can give hope to Muslim youth. (Sify.com, India)
EDIT: Rebranding BJP Feb 13, 2009
A day later, party president Rajnath Singh said a Ram temple would be built at the site of Babri masjid in Ayodhya if the BJP was voted to office. Singh also said that capitalism had failed to address the economic needs of people and the BJP saw Gandhian socialism as a possible alternative to it. (India Times, India)
Relief for Advani as SC rejects PIL in Babri case Feb 11, 2009
NEW DELHI: BJPS prime ministerial candidate LK Advani and others facing trial in the Babri Masjid demolition cases got a relief of sorts when the Supreme Court rejected a PIL seeking their trial on the basis of a consolidated chargesheet ... The apex court on March 22, 2007, had dismissed a petition and applications seeking review of its verdict allowing trial of cases relating to demolition of the Babri Masjid before two separate courts at Rae Bareli and Lucknow ... Two cases were registered... (Economic Times)
Congress to blame for demolition of Babri Masjid, says Mulayam Singh Feb 8, 2009
LUCKNOW: The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh, on Sunday reminded the Congress that it was responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid ... Had the structure not been unlocked and the shilanyas not performed, the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said at a Press conference here. (Hindu)
A conversation with President Pratibha Patil Feb 7, 2009
There are well-merited exceptions to this rule as when K.R. Narayanan as Vice President characterised the December 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid as the greatest tragedy India has faced since the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and then in 2002, as President, spoke out against the Gujarat pogrom. But there are also practical reasons for not doing interviews. (The Hindu, India)
