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NEWS: Countrywide protest on March 3 against ban on VHP
HEADLINE: Countrywide protest on March 3 against ban on VHP
Byline: Decisions of Virat Sant Sammelan, Prayag
Photos: Shri Ashok Singhal, The saints gathered at the session
Organiser, Feb. 12, 1995, p 7. Special Organiser Representative Reports:
NEW DELHI: The re-imposition of the immoral and redundant ban on Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, which has been rendering a yeoman's service to the
Society in India and abroad, has deeply hurt the Hindu psyche. The
society, barring a handful of secular fundamentalists, has perceived it
as yet another sinister move aimed at the Muslim vote bank at the cost of
national interest.
The ban is in line with the Congress Govt.'s apologetic stand on the
Nadwa incident when the Prime Minister ordered action against senior
police and intelligence officers for raiding a Muslim Institute at
Lucknow on a definite information that foreign spies were hiding there.
Not only the Govt. did not proceed against those who had given shelter to
foreign agents, but those apprehended by the intelligence agencies from
within the Nadwa Institute were also set free.
The politically perverse and legally untenable ban (the Parishad has
decided to challenge its legality) will prove costly to the ruling party,
electorally as well as otherwise. For one thing, it has sent strong
signals among the Hindus that the Rao Govt. is out to play the tune of
hindu-baiters and is trying to Islamise the Indian polity. The Muslims
too do not appear to be impressed by the Govt.'s belated action. Their
perception, as voiced by the Urdu media and political leadership of the
community, is that the ban, like the earlier one, will not affect the
Parishad nor will it hinder its activities.
The sants and religious leaders assembled at Allahbad for the Ardh-Kumbha
did not take kindly to it. A Virat Sant Sammelan held on the occasion at
Prayag, which was attended by several lakh devotees and top Hindu
religious leaders of various sects and maths, adopted a strongly worded
resolution condemning the ban and decided to launch a movement all over
the country to support the demand for lifting this anti-Hindu ban.
The ban may prove a blessing in disguise for the BJP. Several thousand
religious leaders and hindu activists have decided to spread out in
Gujarat and Maharashtra -- where forces of Hindutva are strong enough to
defeat the anti-Hindu parties like the Congress and the JD to educate the
voters on the need to defeat these anti-Hindu parties and to vote for
Hindu-friendly parties committed to the liberation of Ayodhya and
construction of Sri Ram temple at the garbha-griha. The anti-Congress
wave sweeping the country is bound to gather momentum because of
aggressive campaigning by religious leaders. These leaders have decided
to run a parallel campaign and not to address public rallies organised by
any political party. The model code of conduct for political parties does
not apply to them as they do not belong to any party as such.
Reports from Gujarat suggest that Parishad activists have already fanned
out to rural areas of the State to carry forward their educational
campaign. The parishad has branches in 4,100 villages in Gujarat, it is
learnt.
The Virat Sant Sammelan has also decided to organise protest rallies upto
block level all over the country on March 3 to register their opposition
to the ban on the VHP. the decisions of the Sammelan and tone and tenor
of speeches delivered by highly respected religious leaders show that the
banned organisation has the sympathy and support of an over-whelming
majority of Hindu religious leaders and sants.
A Jan Jagaran Week will be observed from April 9 to educate the masses on
major issues facing the society like misuse of caste in politics and
social disharmony caused by casteist parties, Govt.'s policy of
globalisation and the need to strengthen the spirit of Swadeshi, and the
Islamisation of the polity leading to the ban on the Parishad.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Manch and the sants associated with the movement
have resolved to take out Ekatmata Yatras in October, 1995 to spread the
message of social harmony and to mobilise the people on the Ayodhya
issue. The infirmities in the Supreme Court judgement on Ayodhya will be
discussed at length during these yatras and the Government's game-plan to
prolong litigation on the Ayodhya will be exposed.
Shri Ashok Singhal, Secretary General of the banned VHP, says a Dharma
Sansad will be held in the last week of October to take stock of the
Situation and chalk out the future course of action. If the Govt. did not
relent, the leadership of Ayodhya movement may launch yet another
struggle to achieve the mission of building a grand temple at Ayodhya.
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