BJP stages protests over Ayodhya attack
The terrorist strike on the Ayodhya complex on Tuesday has united the bickering pro-Hindu forces as they joined hands yesterday to stage nationwide protests against the attack.
The terrorist strike on the Ayodhya complex on Tuesday has united the bickering pro-Hindu forces as they joined hands yesterday to stage nationwide protests against the attack.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists, clamouring to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP chief Lal Krishna Advani, lent their support to the BJP in crippling life in several parts of the country.
Angry activists blocked road and rail traffic in Uttar Pradesh while a mob moved on to the runway at Indore airport in Madhya Pradesh and disrupted even air services.
Advani led the protesters in New Delhi's Parliament Street. Thousands of party workers braved incessant monsoon rains and gathered to lodge their protest forcing the local Delhi Police to fire tear gas and use water cannon to disrupt the protest march.
The police action disrupted Advani's speech as leaders and workers ran for cover. The BJP chief, however, left no one in doubt about the course his party would take by saying the terrorist strike had revived the 14-year old pro-Hindu movement that propelled the BJP to power.
"The Ayodhya movement had until yesterday been a backstage issue. But the terrorist strike has once again made the temple campaign a mainstream issue," Advani said.
Advani led the movement in 1991 demanding handing over the site where Babri mosque stood for construction of a temple in its place.
The BJP chief said that the movement was caught for long in legal tangles. "But now we pledge to pursue this campaign vigorously," he said.
Interestingly, Advani's speech in New Delhi coincided with a ruling of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court saying all eight accused including Advani be tired in the Babri mosque demolition case.
A special court had dropped proceedings against Advani in 2003 while he was deputy prime minister of the country forcing the then opposition of accusing him of misusing his position.
Advani himself said that the legal experts will review the court ruling before deciding if he should challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. Advani has for the time being deferred his plans of visiting Ayodhya in view of the Uttar Pradesh government refusing entry to BJP leaders saying their entry to the temple town could disrupt communal harmony.
The Uttar Pradesh administration has said there is no ban on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visiting Ayodhya, although the veteran BJP leader lambasted the federal and state authorities for the second day running for security breach at the highly fortified site.
Meanwhile, authorities in New Delhi have identified several other religious places to intensify security arrangements and foil any terrorist attack.
