JOIN USIt has now emerged that the former Union minister, who cautiously guarded his ‘secular image’ especially in the last two decades of his political life, had sought the details of the meetings which were held in November in 1992, a week before the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
Three months after the death of the Congress leader, details of the application and replies came out in the open when the Central Information Commission (CIC) took up the matter. But, all the proceedings before the transparency panel were abated due to the death of the petitioner. Singh had filed an RTI application on September 24, 2010 seeking details of “the minutes of the said meeting” from November 21, 1992 to November 30, 1992.
The Cabinet Secretariat, in its reply, had said: “it was an informal meeting of the CCPA held on 30.11.1992 on the subject of Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid issue of which no agenda notice and minutes were kept in the records.”
Dissatisfied with the reply, Singh had moved the CIC. However, before the CIC could pass any direction to the Cabinet Secretariat on the issue, Singh died on March 4, 2011.
“Arjun Singh was known for his manipulative politics. He had created a constituency for himself by projecting his secular image. Probably, he was thinking to get back his space in the party by proving that he was not a part of the decisions taken by Rao which ultimately swept Congress from UP,” Badri Narayan, Professor at the G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, said.