New Delhi: Seventeen years after it was set up, the Liberhan Commission probing the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
The Commission, which had got 48 extensions, submitted the report to the Prime Minister by Retd Justice M S Liberhan in presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram.
The contents of the report were not immediately known.
Set up within 10 days of the demolition of the historic mosque on December 6, 1992, which triggered widespread communal violence leading to heavy loss of lives, the panel has become the country's longest serving Commission of Enquiry.
The Commission, mandated to inquire into the circumstances leading to the demolition of the Babri mosque was to submit its report by March 16, 1993 but sought repeated extensions to complete its probe. The last three months of extensions were given in March this year.
The probe panel was one of the costliest Commissions having spent nearly Rs 8 crore on its report. The bulk of the amount was spent on salaries and perks of the support staff.
During the extended proceedings spread over 400 sittings, the Commission recorded the statements of senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh.
The panel had completed hearing the last witness in 2005.
Politicians in trouble:
Vinay Katiyar: The Ayodhya-based functionary who led the demolition campaign from the front.
Uma Bharti: The sadhvi, the rabble-rouser, known for making inflammatory speeches.
Ashok Singhal: Senior VHP leader whose fanaticism and statements preceding September 6 incited kar sevaks.
Kalyan Singh: The then chief minister of UP who sided with the lawbreakers.
Murli Manohar Joshi: Senior BJP leader then with a remarkable following.
RSS chief KS Sudershan: He deposed on behalf of the then chief Raju Bhaiyya.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Spy who triggered the Cold War
Secret files have at last revealed the identity of the top spy who transferred Britain's atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union and paved the way for the nuclear standoff with the west, triggering the Cold War for nearly five decades.Though the MI5 suspected him, trailed him and monitored his every move, they were never able to get the man, codenamed "Eric" by the KGB, whose espionage campaign to steal the Allies nuclear bomb plans was codenamed Enormous.
Declassified MI5 files have confirmed that the master spy, described as the "main source", was a Soviet mole at the Cavendish Laboratories at the University of Cambridge, the heart of the wartime nuclear research programme.Today, 70 years later, with the opening of MI5 and KGB files, "Eric" can finally be identified as Engelbert (Bertie) Broda, whose story is a tale of espionage and counter-espionage, elaborate spycraft, love and deception.
Broda was the KGBs prize spy, who fed Britain's nuclear secrets to Moscow for a decade, including the blueprint for the early nuclear reactor used in the US Manhattan Project, Times online reported on Thursday.
"Erics" secrets enabled the communist state to catch up in the race to build the nuclear bomb and set the stage for nearly five decades of nuclear standoff with the West.
Though the KGB archives of the period are now sealed, a brief window in the mid-1990s provided a KGB officer named Alexander Vassiliev access to the files.
Vassilievs notes form the basis of a new book, published in the US this month, revealing Brodas pivotal role in Soviet atomic espionage.
"Soviet sources in England were the first to provide Moscow with atomic intelligence," wrote Pavel Fitin, Moscow's head of Foreign Intelligence (1939 to 1946), in a memo quoted in Spies by Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes and Alexander Vassiliev.
According to Fitin, intelligence from Broda and others laid the groundwork for Soviet nuclear scientists, paving the way for the nuclear confrontation of the Cold War.
"The material included valuable and top-secret documents [that] served as a starting point for laying down the groundwork and organising work on the problem of atomic energy in our country," the memo stated.
Among Brodas information included the blueprint for one of the American Manhattan Projects early nuclear reactors.Broda, who was being heavily trailed by the security service (MI5), went back to Austria to teach at the University of Vienna in 1948.
Brodas son Paul, who remained with his mother in Britain, is writing a book about his father and stepfather, the British report said.
The most remarkable thing about the scientist-spy was his ability to evade detection.In 1983, at the age of 73, the celebrated professor was buried in a "grave of honour". Alongside that epitaph might stand another: "Eric", the spy who got away.
Declassified MI5 files have confirmed that the master spy, described as the "main source", was a Soviet mole at the Cavendish Laboratories at the University of Cambridge, the heart of the wartime nuclear research programme.Today, 70 years later, with the opening of MI5 and KGB files, "Eric" can finally be identified as Engelbert (Bertie) Broda, whose story is a tale of espionage and counter-espionage, elaborate spycraft, love and deception.
Broda was the KGBs prize spy, who fed Britain's nuclear secrets to Moscow for a decade, including the blueprint for the early nuclear reactor used in the US Manhattan Project, Times online reported on Thursday.
"Erics" secrets enabled the communist state to catch up in the race to build the nuclear bomb and set the stage for nearly five decades of nuclear standoff with the West.
Though the KGB archives of the period are now sealed, a brief window in the mid-1990s provided a KGB officer named Alexander Vassiliev access to the files.
Vassilievs notes form the basis of a new book, published in the US this month, revealing Brodas pivotal role in Soviet atomic espionage.
"Soviet sources in England were the first to provide Moscow with atomic intelligence," wrote Pavel Fitin, Moscow's head of Foreign Intelligence (1939 to 1946), in a memo quoted in Spies by Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes and Alexander Vassiliev.
According to Fitin, intelligence from Broda and others laid the groundwork for Soviet nuclear scientists, paving the way for the nuclear confrontation of the Cold War.
"The material included valuable and top-secret documents [that] served as a starting point for laying down the groundwork and organising work on the problem of atomic energy in our country," the memo stated.
Among Brodas information included the blueprint for one of the American Manhattan Projects early nuclear reactors.Broda, who was being heavily trailed by the security service (MI5), went back to Austria to teach at the University of Vienna in 1948.
Brodas son Paul, who remained with his mother in Britain, is writing a book about his father and stepfather, the British report said.
The most remarkable thing about the scientist-spy was his ability to evade detection.In 1983, at the age of 73, the celebrated professor was buried in a "grave of honour". Alongside that epitaph might stand another: "Eric", the spy who got away.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
JuD chief Hafiz Saeed released
Lahore, June 02: A Pakistani court on Tuesday ordered the release of Mumbai terror attacks accused Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, inviting strong criticism from India. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah – a front of the Lashkar-e-Toiba – is believed to have masterminded the Mumbai terror strikes that killed over 180 people in November last year. The Pakistani authorities had put Saeed under detention on December 11 last year, after the UN Security Council designated the JuD a terrorist organisation. However, a full bench of the Lahore High Court today ordered Saeed’s release, saying there was insufficient evidence to keep the JuD chief chief under house arrest. The order came in response to a Habeas Corpus petition filed by Saeed’s lawyers challenging his detention.
“The house arrest of Hafiz Saeed is illegal and unconstitutional and termed it as the violation of human rights,” petitioners’ counsel AK Dogar said. Apart from Saeed, Colonel (Retd) Nazir Ahmed – a top JuD leader – was also released by the court. Within hours of the Lahore HC order, India slammed Pakistan for failing to show seriousness in the Mumbai terror attacks probe. Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters that the development again showed Pakistan was not serious about its “commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks”. "We are unhappy," Chidambaram added. He however said that Saeed’s release would not affect the Mumbai terror probe being conducted by Indian investigation agencies. The Ministry of External Affairs also described Saeed’s release as regrettable. Addressing the press, an MEA spokesperson said that the JuD chief’s release raises serious doubts about Pakistan’s intention of acting against terror groups. It also raises questions about Pakistan’s sincerity into the Mumbai terror attacks probe, he added. Saeed’s counsel Dogar had told the court yesterday that there was "no legal grounds" for Saeed’s detention under house arrest by the Pakistani authorities. Referring to the government's contention that Saeed was detained following the UNSC branding of the JuD as a terrorist organisation, Dogar had contended that Islamabad had not acted on several UN resolutions on the Kashmir issue, which had been put in cold storage. He also claimed the UN acted on the dictates of the US. Pakistani Attorney General Latif Khosa had told the court during an earlier hearing that the government had evidence to prove the JuD's "prima facie links" with al Qaeda. This was the first time that Pakistan admitted that the JuD – a front of the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba – has links with al Qaeda. Dogar had also contended yesterday that while al Qaeda had been designated a terrorist group by the UN and several countries, it was not banned under Pakistani laws.
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