Jamaat-e-Islami’s Daawat, in its front page commentary on the Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of Babri Masjid, says “acting on the commission’s report will be a very big challenge.” The paper writes: “No one should conclude from the delay in the commission’s investigations that this much time was inevitable in this task. In fact, the very objective of instituting this commission was to suppress the facts till the time people did not forget them. If the government’s objective was bringing the facts before the people and getting the culprits punished, they would have been sentenced by the courts long ago.” There are apprehensions, according to the paper, that the report of this commission may meet the treatment given to the Srikrishna Commission report on the communal riots in Mumbai in 1993.

Endorsing BJP President Rajnath Singh’s statement to the effect that in 17 years following the demolition at Ayodhya, much water has flowed down the Ganga, Patna and Ranchi-based daily Qaumi Tanzeen (July 2) quips that “even after 17 years the sin of December 6, 1992 has not been washed off. Nor could the sacred water (pavitra jal) of Ganga wipe off the black and blood-red patches on the apparel (daaman) of the Sangh Parivar. Delhi-based Hamara Samaj (July 1) has laid emphasis on “questions raised in some quarters as to why the government has chosen this time to bring to the fore the Liberhan Commission report.” Most papers have demanded an early release of the report.

Section 377

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