| The UPA government has granted a three-month extension to the Liberhan Commission, set up to inquire into circumstances leading to the demolition of the Babri mosque at Ayodhya, prompting the BJP to accuse the government of trying to 'hide the truth' of the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
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| The term of the Commission, headed by retired Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, was to end on December 31 last year. The panel was appointed within a fortnight of the demolition of the structure at the disputed site on December 6, 1992 to inquire into the circumstances that led to the incident.
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| The extension is significant considering that Home Minister Shivraj Patil had said in the Lok Sabha earlier this year that the commission would submit its report by the end of the year and the role of all leaders involved would be out in the open.
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| The BJP was swift to react to the extension. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that “however much the government tries to hide the truth in the Ayodhya issue, it is there for all to see. The Archaeological Survey of India's report is very clear that there was once a magnificent temple under the disputed site.”
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| The report assumes significance in view of the coming elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly early next year. The BJP has already indicated that it would be using the Hindutva plank in the UP elections, and this could ignite an already volatile political climate.
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| Sources in the home ministry said that time would be given to the commission to finalise its report and additional staff was likely to be provided to it for this purpose. |
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