Press Statement
Shri Harkishan Singh Surjeet, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
On Narasimha Rao’s Testimony at the Liberhan Commission
Shri Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India, testifying before the Justice Liberhan Commission has made some unfounded statements. He has claimed that the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting held in November 1992 did not extend adequate support for him to intervene to prevent the demolition of the Babri Masjid. This is totally untrue. I had participated in the NIC meeting. I had moved a resolution which was adopted unanimously authorising the Prime Minister to take whatever steps necessary to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.
This blanket authorisation was sufficient for the Prime Minister to ensure effective intervention when reports came about the gathering of thousands of people at Ayodhya.
Till the end, Shri Narasimha Rao kept assuring the leaders of the secular opposition parties, including myself, that things were under control and nothing untoward would happen at Ayodhya.