The Srikrishna Commission's ... report .. indicts the Shiv Sena and the BJP and specifically Mr. Balasaheb Thackeray and other Sena leaders for their role ... Mr Thackeray's speeches and writings in his daily Saamna and writings in other publications, are also condemned .. Justice Srikrishna does not spare the Congress for its vacillation and, no less significantly, for allowing factional feuds to fuel the mayhem that tore Mumbai's social fabric asunder. While Sharad Pawar, the then defence minister, does not find a critical mention, his adversary, Mr. Sudhakarrao Naik, the chief minister, is hauled up for his "effete" leadership. The report likewise has harsh words for the Mumbai police, though it takes care to reject the thesis that the police willfully targeted the minority community. And while it mentions the misdemeanours of the fanatical elements among the minorities, it is equally tough on similar elements in the majority community. The contentions in the report flow from the Commission's view that the genesis of the riots can be traced to he destruction of the Babari Masjid and to the events that preceded and followed it, including especially, Mr. L.K. Advani's controversial rath yatra. Not without surprise, the Shiv Sena-BJP government has rejected the findings of the Commission outright on the grounds that its author is biased against Hindus.

All those who wish to preserve the pluralistic nature of our social and political order and, by that same taken, ensure that fanatics, irrespective of their religious affiliations, are kept on a tight leash can only pray that the political class as a whole is able to rise above its partisan pursuits. (But) deep ideological divisions ... continue to undermine our political system. In order to transcend such divisions, it is imperative that our public life is governed, in letter and spirit, by our Constitution. On this score, developments in the past few years have given cause for some optimism ... The BJP has ... made the requisite compromises to forge, and then to keep in one piece, the alliance it heads. Even Balasaheb Thackeray has been proposing a solution to the ... dispute which is eminently sensible. It would be a real shame if the adversaries of the sangh parivar were to say or do anything that would silence the moderate elements. The sooner the heated rhetoric that the Srikrishna report has generated subsides, the better. For, if the report's findings are exploited for short-term political gains in the name of either "Hindu sentiments" or "secular" beliefs, the country could yet again witness a dangerous polarisation along communal lines. All citizens yearn for peace and security; all would like to lead a life of dignity; all are eager for progress and development. The Srikrishna report, and its fall-out, must not be allowed to thwart these legitimate aspirations. What are desperately need is the healing touch.