NEW DELHI: The White Paper on Ayodhya squarely blamed Kalyan Singh, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, for shielding the “criminal activity” that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6. It further stated that the governor’s letter of December | hinted at the possible threat to the disputed structure in the event of President’s rule being imposed and he therefore opposed that move.

The document tabled in Parliament Feb.24 said, “It is on a balance of all these factors that the option of taking recourse to the provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution was not exercised.”

Stating that the police were mute spectators while the demolition was in progress, ostensibly under instructions from the chief minister not to use force or to open fire, the White Paper said: “A worse example of irresponsibility and abdication of power by those who had taken the oath to defend the Constitution and uphold the rule of law comfort be imagined.”

Referring to the Supreme Court order of November 28 last that the kar seva would only be a “‘symbolic occasion,” the Paper said that even as wide publicity was being given to the assurances given by the UP Government, the events of December 6 exposed its real intentions. “Kar sevaks were allowed to assemble in huge numbers in the immediate vicinity of the disputed structure, proper security arrangements were not made and the state government failed to live up to its promise to protect the disputed structure,” it said.

The 122page document gives a detailed time wise account of the events of December 6 and refers to the “constant pressure” kept on the state government to make use of the Central forces for the protection of the structure, The state government at no stage explicitly stated that it would not make use of these forces. On more than one occasion, the forces were actually requisitioned but their movement was delayed due to non-availability of magistrates. Even when a magistrate eventually accompanied a force comprising a few companies, he sent the forces back after going part of the way. “Thus, the state government kept up a pretense without actually using the Central forces effectively,” it was stated.

It was at 12 noon that day that news was received here through the Intelligence Bureau and the CRPF control room that about 150 kar sevaks had “stormed” the disputed complex without any intervention from the police and local authorities; the information was immediately conveyed to the Prime Minister and the home minister. At 12:25 p.m., the home minister spoke to the chief minister expressing anxiety about an imminent attack on the structure by kar sevaks and urged that all attempts be made to protect the structure. He also urged the use of paramilitary forces as 195 companies: had been kept at hand to meet with any crisis situation. The chief minister said he had received conflicting persons of entry into the complex. He would verify and deal with the matter. He, however, did not call the home minister back as promised, the White Paper said. At 1 p.m. the home secretary informed the governor about the assault on the structure and stressed the need to take action for it’s” protection.

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 5, 1993