In a bench-thumping speech soon after tabling the report, Joshi harped on how he was constrained to point out the anti-Hindu bias of the report and said: ``My government is outrightly rejecting the observations for the simple reason that they are not impartial. The commission appeared to be anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim, which is not acceptable to my government under any circumstances,'' Joshi told the Assembly while presenting the Action Taken Report (ATR).

The statement sets a precedent of sorts. It is not often that a commission inquiring into communal riots gets attacked for itself being communal, and that too by the Head of a Government. With a very attentive Raj Thackeray in thegallery, Joshi, in his hour-long speech went so far as to assert that the report would be counter-productive. Instead of serving as salve for wounded communal sentiment, Joshi alleged, it might well re-open the wounds and pose a law and order problem.

At a juncture when his government has maintained riot-free state ever since it came to power three-and-half years ago, the commission's report, the Chief Minister felt, would certainly not be helpful in maintaining communal harmony and peace.

The commission also came under attack for paying inadequate attention to the serial bomb blasts issue, the term of reference for which was added by the Sena-BJP Government after it came to power but before disbanding it on the grounds that it "was likely to take a long time and the report even if produced was only likely to open old wounds which had hust healed". While devoting as many as 600 and odd pages pages for "detailed analysis, minute examination, prolonged discussion and sharp observations about the riots," itchose to dispose of the inquiry into the serial bomb blast in three to four pages in a "frivolous and cursory" manner, Joshi charged reiterating the Government's observations in the ATR.

Joshi took strong exception to the finding by the commission that Sena chief Bal Thackeray had instigated Sena activists to organise attacks on Muslims and their properties. ``I disagree with these totally distorted statements of the commission as no concrete evidence has been presented before the commission, which can warrant such an inference let alone conclusion. On the contrary, anti-national Muslim forces within and outside the country, instigated these communal riots, continued them for a long period and carried out the serial bomb blasts, in which a large number of Hindus were killed. I note with distress and surprise that the commission has not even cared to take serious note of these incidents'' Joshi said.

The Chief Minister said against the background of series of communal riots witnessed by the state since1967, it was expected that the Srikrishna Commission would come out with suitable directions on the violent and unprecedented riots and serial bomb blasts of 1992-93, However, the commission did not fulfill the expectations of the alliance government.``It is indeed unfortunate that the commission while making observations and recommendations did not take a comprehensive view of all the facets and elements responsible for the riots and this has led to one sided conclusions. One community and its leadership has been held responsible while other has been more or less absolved,'' Joshi lamented.

Even the findings of the commission on the performance of the Mumbai police are unacceptable, Joshi said. While numerous individual instances of bravery and gallantry by policemen do not find any mention, the entire force has been tainted on the evidence of one or two police officers and it has also come to the unacceptable conclusion that the entire Mumbai police is biased, he added. Referring to the conclusion of thecommission that the slogans like Mandir vahi banayenge and Is desh mein rehna hoga to Vande Mataram kahana hoga are communal and there was less of religion and more of politics, Joshi said the demand for construction of a temple cannot be communal as it was a fundamental right of a citizen, while Vande Mataram has been given the status equal to the national anthem. ``Why there should be objection if some one sings the national anthem,'' the Chief Minister asked.On the finding of the commission that the murders of Mathadi workers and Radhabai chawl incidents were not responsible for outburst of riots in January 1993 and that the riots were owing to provocative and exaggerated writings in Sena mouthpiece Saamna and Navakal, Joshi said his government was unable to accept these findings as these were contradictory and erroneus.

``The commission has itself noted that there were a large number of incidents of stabbings in Muslim areas. In the same breath, the commission has also accepted that the stabbings werecarried out by Muslims with noted goondas Salim Rampuri and Firoz Konkani in the lead. Similarly, the commission itself notes that the attacks were carried out with a motive to whip up communal frenzy. Therefore, the conclusions of the commission that the killers were criminals and Hindus gave a communal colour to these incidents are contradictory,'' Joshi remarked.

About the observation of the commission that Shiv Sainiks launched attacks with military precision with list of Muslim establishments and voters' list in hands, the Chief Minister said his government cannot at all agree with these findings as no strong and reliable evidence has been presented before the commission, which warrants such a conclusion.

Unpalatable report