Justice (retd) Manmohan Singh Liberhan says that it was he who first used the term “Hindu militants” in his report on the Babri Masjid demolition. And he stands by it.
“I mentioned the ‘Hindu militants’ term in my report. Even if I change my view, I cannot rub it off. I am not a politician,” says Justice Liberhan. “Any kind of terrorism is bad. Killing of innocent people is bad,” he added.
The commission headed by Justice Liberhan and submitted its report, running over more than 1,000 pages, to the Union government after 17 years in 2009.
He indicted many senior BJP and RSS leaders in the report and also has no hope of any action being taken on it.
“I have given various recommendations. No political party is ready and willing to act on that. It’s politics of votes and slogans. A commission of enquiry is totally useless… These commissions will meet the same fate as that of other commissions. How many commissions have been appointed in the anti-Sikh riots and Subhas Chandra Bose cases?” said Justice Liberhan.
Liberhan said, “Independence of agencies like the NIA is a farce. If political masters want, they can get matters investigated overnight and cases can reach finality.”
Though the former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge refused to comment specifically on the Memon’s hanging — “Supreme Court judges have already said a lot,” he said — he added he was against the death penalty.
“It should not be there. There is always a chance of benefit of doubt. After all, human agencies are involved. The chances of error cannot be eliminated.”
He said he had paid a price for being truthful in his report, and would continue to pay it.