The Centre’s counsel before the Liberhan Commission, probing the events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, has pointed to the Shiv Sena for any conspiracy that may have gone into the tearing down of the mosque.‘‘If at all there was any conspiracy, it would have been limited to 605 Shiv Sainiks who had allegedly planned to hold kar seva at the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum),’’ Centre’s counsel Lala Ram Gupta told the Commission today.He said Shiv Sena leader Moreshwar Save had ruled out any role of the party or its leaders in the demolition. Although there were intelligence reports that this group had a meeting on November 28, 1992 at Faizabad and decided to perform kar seva, there was no evidence to corroborate this, Gupta said.Reacting to Gupta’s disclosure, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam said: ‘‘It’s okay, we accept the investigation of the Liberhan Commission as a fact. Even before the investigations began, we had publicly declared that if the Shiv Sainiks had done it (demolition), we were proud of it because the Babri Masjid was a blot on our culture, our nation. If the blot has been removed by us, we are proud of it.’’The day’s developments will fuel a new controversy started by five kar sevaks — among the accused in the Babri Masjid case, these include at least two Shiv Sainiks — who have hit out at prosecutors for not treating them in the same manner as senior BJP leaders like L K Advani who, they alleged, had instigated them to pull down the Babri Masjid. Nirupam too said, ‘‘If some people are trying to save their neck or back and they want to hang us to fulfill that purpose, we are ready to accept it for the nation and for the Hindu community.’’The Liberhan Commission, he said, should send a notice to the CBI because ‘‘obviously, the agency’s list of accused is not perfect and genuine and the Centre’s saying only Shiv Sainiks are involved in the demolition.’’Centre’s counsel Lala Ram Gupta today also told the Commission that the Narasimha Rao government’s decision to ban the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was ‘‘correct’’ and that their leaders had made ‘‘provocative speeches’’ during the demolition.Rao’s Congress government had banned the VHP on basis of Justice Bahri Commission findings. ‘‘It was a correct measure of the Centre as it was based on provocative statements made by Ashok Singhal, Sadhvi Rithambara and Acharya Dharmendra Dev,’’ Gupta said.He denied that security arrangements around the disputed structure were not proper, but admitted that these proved to be insufficient as they failed to stop the mob.
