Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley quoted liberally from Open during the Rajya Sabha debate on the Liberhan Commission report. The story is written by Raman Kirpal, a senior journalist who had extensively covered the Babri Masjid demolition and was also called by the commission to depose as a witness. "I picked up the 4th December issue, the latest issue, of a new magazine called Open. This journalist has written a two-page article called 'My Crippled Testimony'," Jaitley said, flashing Open in the House on 9 December. Quoting extensively from Open, Jaitley explained at length how Kirpal couldn't submit his testimony in full and was, instead, asked to sign an affidavit prepared by the CBI. Jaitley pointed out how Kirpal, even without disagreeing with the content of the affidavit, wanted to say more and how he could not. "He (Kirpal) says 'I wanted to say something more'. What was that something more?" Jaitley asked. Relying heavily on Kirpal's testimony in Open, Jaitley sought to highlight the lacklustre functioning of the Liberhan Commission that took nearly 17 years to complete its task. The BJP leader also maintained that the story was written not by a journalist who has been friendly to his party. "This is not somebody who has any friendly overtones to my party. He (Kirpal) is someone who has severely gone against and given evidence against some of our leaders. It is not against Mr Advani. He says, 'The moment I wanted to say something about the Central Government and something else, they said 'just shut up; the answer is only 'yes' or 'no'," Jaitley said, adding: "This is what has happened in the last 17 years and you want the entire country to believe this kind of a procured evidence!"

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My Crippled Testimony