Ayodhya/VHP

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http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7843

TEMPLE ROW: 2,000 troops rushed to Ayodhya

Reuters

Posted: Feb 26, 2002 at 1101 hrs IST

More than 15,000 people have converged at Ayodhya for a ritual they hope will kick off construction of a temple at Ayodhya, officials said. The government of Uttar Pradesh has rushed 2,000 paramilitary troops to guard the disputed site and banned assembly of people at Ayodhya, where hardliners plan to start building the temple on March 15, officials said.

"We are prepared to deal with any contingency," the state's Principal Home Secretary Naresh Dayal told Reuters.

President K.R. Narayanan, outlining government policy at the opening of a new session of Parliament on Monday, said the Ayodhya dispute should be resolved either by a court or by mutual agreement among all parties involved.

"The government of India...is duty bound to maintain the status quo at the disputed site in Ayodhya. It will also ensure that all necessary measures will be taken to ensure preservation of law and order," Narayanan said. A spokesman for the BJP-led NDA coalition said the President's remarks summed up the government's approach to the dispute.

"The government has made its position clear in the president's address," Defence Minister George Fernandes, who is convenor of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, told reporters.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has declared it will start building the temple on March 15 and was mobilising Hindus to attend the "purna ahuti yagya" ritual. In Bhopal members of the BJP said thousands of Hindus were on their way to Ayodhya. "In response to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's call for help in construction of the temple, 5,000 youths have left for Ayodhya today," said Kewal Mishra, the leader of BJP's youth wing in the city. On Sunday the BJP was routed in state polls, including its traditional power base of Uttar Pradesh, its traditional power base.
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-http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7846

RS, LS adjourned over Ayodhya issue

Press Trust of India

Posted: Feb 26, 2002 at 1129 hrs IST

Amid uproarious scenes, Lok Sabha was on Tuesday adjourned for half-an-hour after the chair disallowed Opposition demand for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the Ayodhya issue even as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee asserted that government was prepared for a debate on it.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for15 minutes as almost the entire Opposition trooped into the Well demanding suspension of the Question Hour and taking up of the Ayodhya issue.

As soon as the House met for the day, angry Opposition Members sought to know the latest situation in Ayodhya and demanded that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee apprise the members of the actual position in the backdrop of VHP's threat to start the process of temple construction from March 15.

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http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7875

VHP readies to shift pillars to Ram Janmabhoomi

Press Trust of India

Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1046 hrs IST

A day after government assured the Opposition of maintaining status quo at the disputed site in Ayodhya, the VHP on Wednesday announced the muhurat for shifting the carved pillars of the Ram temple to the Janmabhoomi area. But the VHP maintained that the actual construction would begin only in an "amicable atmosphere".

The Sangh Parivar outfit also expressed hope that the government would hand over the acquired land to it by March 12. "We will be moving the pillars from our workshop at Karsevakpuram to the Ram Janmabhoomi site at 1415 hrs IST (auspicious time) on March 15, VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore said.

About one lakh VHP activists and supporters would converge on the temple town on March 15 to begin the process of construction, he said. The VHP leader dismissed apprehensions of any communal trouble but said the activists were prepared to court arrest if the administration prevents them from moving the material to the site.

Kishore, however, clarified that the "actual construction work would begin only in an amicable atmosphere." "How can a temple be built in an atmosphere of tension," he asked. Kishore said the VHP's Mandir Nirman Samiti (temple construction committee) would meet in Ayodhya on March 14.

He said VHP was hopeful that the government would return the acquired land to it by March 12. Asked about the government's assurance to the Opposition at the all-party meeting on Tuesday night that the status quo regarding the acquired land would be maintained, Kishore said "nothing can be ruled out in politics".

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http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7881

TEMPLE ROW: Advani warns defiant VHP of action

Press Trust of India

Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1218 hrs IST

Concerned over Assembly of thousands of kar sewaks in Ayodhya, Home Minister L.K. Advani on Wednesday said the exercise could lead to flagrant defiance of court orders and warned the VHP that government would not hesitate to take action to maintain law and order.The VHP has "embarked on a course of action in Ayodhya which is fraught with dangerous consequences. Thousands are sought to be assembled in Ayodhya to take part in a mass exercise which can only lead to flagrant defiance of the court orders," he said in a terse statement a day after the all-party meeting convened by Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to discuss the temple issue.

Asking VHP leaders, particularly Ashok Singhal, to abandon their present course of action, Advani said: "If, however, they persist in their present approach, the government would not hesitate to take action against those who defy court orders or create problems for law and order".

Asserting that it was duty of Centre as well as the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that court orders were not violated by anyone, the Home Minister said the developments in Ayodhya could thus precipitate a serious law and order problem.

"Crores of our countrymen want the Ram temple to be built at Ayodhya but they want it to be built lawfully and peacefully," he said.

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http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7892

PM urges VHP to suspend 'mandir' stir

Reuters

Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1524 hrs IST

Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday urged the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to shelve plans to build temple on the disputed Ayodhya site after flaring of violence in Godhra.

Shatabdi Express bringing 'Ram Sevaks' from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad were attacked and set on fire early on Wednesday. Thirty people are suspected killed in the incident.

"This incident is very sad, unfortunate," Atal Behari Vajpayee told reporters. "I would appeal to the VHP to suspend their campaign and help government in maintaining peace and brotherhood in the country."

Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani also urged the Parishad to drop its plans. The government has threatened tough action against anyone taking the law into their own hands before a long-delayed court settlement.

Vajpayee stressed that the issue could not be resolved through agitational course or violence. "There are two ways to resolve the issue--one through talks among the concerned parties and the other through the judiciary," he said adding yesterday's all-party meeting was unanimous on the view that the courts should be requested to expedite the hearing of related cases and give their verdict.

"I am confident that such steps would be taken," he said appealing to the people not to be swayed by rumours. Maintaining that government was concerned over the incident, he said the Centre wanted peace to prevail, especially in Gujarat, and asserted that it would take all necessary steps to maintain harmony.

Govt's assurances "inadequate, unsatisfactory": Muslims

However, Musluim outfits describing verbal assurance of the government to maintain status quo at the disputed site in Ayodhya as "inadequate and unsatisfactory".

They demanded that the congregation of 'kar seveks' already at the site should be declared "an unlawful Assembly" in view of their declared objective and they should be dispersed.

"The all India Muslim majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) and the Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee (BMMCC) expressed their deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Ayodhya with the arrival of thousands of 'kar seveks' every day and the reiteration by the VHP of its resolve to storm the acquired area on March 15 to commence the unlawful construction of the proposed Ram temple," AIMMM and BMMCC said in a statement.

Demanding a ban on the "entry or re-entry" of the kar sevekas in Ayodhya, AIMMM president Syed Shahabuddin said all the political parties should press the government to "take all effective measures to defend the sanctity of the constitution and to send a parliamentary team to Ayodhya to monitor the ground developments."

"Block all access routes from karsevekpuram to the acquired area and seal all stocks of carved pillars against their use in an unlawful act," the organisations said.

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Stop kar sevaks from entering Ayodhya: Centre tells UP
Press Trust of IndiaPosted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1821 hrs IST

In a bid to check the pouring in of "kar sevaks" into Ayodhya, the Centre on Wednesday directed Uttar Pradesh government to take strict measures to prevent their entry there.

In a communication to the state government, Union Home Ministry asked the authorities to stop group reservation in trains and come down heavily on ticket less travellers as "kar sevaks" are mostly taking trains to reach the temple town, a senior Ministry official said.

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http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=7902

Sangh leaders meet PM, press for Ayodhya land

Press Trust of India

Posted: Feb 27, 2002 at 1852 hrs IST

Senior Sangh Parivar leaders met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Wednesday evening to "convince him of the legality of returning the land acquired by the government in Ayodhya to the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (Trust)" to facilitate the construction of the Ram temple from March 15.

RSS joint general secretary in charge of BJP affairs Madan Das Devi, VHP international working president Ashok Singhal and former High Court judge Justice Ram Jois attended the hour-long meeting at Vajpayee's residence, VHP sources said.
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http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/mar/12train.htm

It had to be done, VHP leader says of riots Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad In a startling revelation, Professor Keshavram Kashiram Shastri, 96-year-old chairman of the Gujarat unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, toldrediff.com that the list of shops owned by Muslims in Ahmedabad was prepared on the morning of February 28 itself. Shastri was replying to an allegation that shops in Ahmedabad were looted on the basis of a list prepared by the VHP in advance and that the violence was not a spontaneous outburst against thecarnage in Godhra. A scholar of the Mahabharat and a highly respected literary figure of Gujarat, Shastri said in a tape-recorded interview, "In the morning we sat down and prepared the list. We were not prepared in advance." Asked why they did it, he responded, "Karvun j pade, karvun j pade (it had to be done, it had to be done). We don't like it, but we were terribly angry. Lust and anger are blind." He said the rioters were "kelvayela Hindu chokra" (well-bred Hindu boys). He said there were two reasons for the inactivity of the Ahmedabad police during the rioting. "They feared death," he said simply. "And some of them were Hindus who thought, let the mob do whatever it wants." He agreed that the atmosphere in the city now is so charged that if he were to go to the Muslim-dominated Kalupur area of Ahmedabad, he would not come back alive. He admitted that people had been burnt, mosques razed, and shops looted, but argued that all that had been done in a "frenzy". Shastri agreed that violence was not the answer to violence, but remarked, "These things [non-violence] look good in the shastras. Our boys were charged because in Godhra women and children were burnt alive. The crowd was spontaneous. All of them were not VHP people. The Waghri community (a scheduled caste) didn't even know the victims of Godhra, but they have done an amazing job! They are not our members. In villages all these people who were angry are not our people. They are angry because Hindutva was attacked. This is an outburst, a tremendous outburst that will be difficult to roll back." He said the situation could get aggravated and bigger riots were possible. "There will be a war," he said. "So much poison has spread that it's difficult o contain it now." Asked how he, a scholar and a litterateur, could condone innocents being burnt alive, he remarked, "The youngsters have done even those things which we don't like. We don't support it. But we can't condemn it because they are our boys. If my daughter does something, will I condemn it? "We don't believe that the boys have done something wrong, because this was the result of an outburst. But we do feel that they should not have gone so far. But that's an afterthought. We needed to do something. It's said that snakes that are not poisonous should keep the enemy away by hissing once in a while." He agreed that in Hindu philosophy, such actions are sinful, "but it's done! Now we should work for peace. Because India can't afford such disturbances." The Ahmedabad police have so far arrested 977 persons on charges of rioting, looting, burning and killing people in response to first information reports filed by the victims and relatives of the dead. According to the police, the search for looted goods has been quite successful. In many colonies and slums, looted stuff has been found abandoned on the roads by rioters fearful of being caught. According to a police source, a legislator in Ahmedabad has sought police protection because the relatives of those arrested have been nagging him day and night to get them out. A senior police officer told rediff.com that the arrested boys are now blaming local leaders and saffron activists. "Our boys did it because the mobs and leaders supported it. Now how can you arrest them?" say the relatives of the rioters. According to Shastri , "The VHP has formed a panel of 50 lawyers to help release the arrested people accused of rioting and looting. None of the lawyers will charge any fees because they believe in the RSS ideology."