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Hindu
Ascetics, Priests Lay Siege to Indian Parliament
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Hindu
holy man brandishes trident during a demonstration
outside parliament
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By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, February 24 (IslamOnline.net) - Thousands of sadhus (Hindu
ascetics), priests and hardcore activists laid siege to the national
parliament in Delhi Monday, February 24. They demanded government
permission to build a temple on the so-called "undisputed
land" adjacent to the site of Babri Masjid razed by similar groups
on December 6, 1992.
The
siege was organized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - World Hindu Council)
which concluded a three-day dharma sansad (religious parliament) Monday.
The religious parliament, attended by thousands of partially clad
ascetics with ash smeared on their forehead and exposed parts of their
bodies, demanded the end of a Supreme Court ban on construction at the
mosque site.
Inside
the parliament, members of ruling and opposition parties repeatedly
clashed on the issue and the house had to be adjourned twice to ensure
decorum.
The
congregation demanded, among other things, deletion of verses relating
to jihad from the Holy Qur'an on the plea that they incite violence
against other communities. It also demanded the closure of Islamic
madrasahs (schools) including the 130-year old Darul Uloom Deoband, a
premier institute of Islamic learning, saying the institution preached
jihad.
The
VHP and its allied organizations have launched a sustained campaign
against all mosques and madrasahs over the last four years. Being a
close ally of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which leads the coalition
government of the Indian federation, VHP is allowed to get away with its
lawlessness and anti-minority hate offences. It was behind the pogroms
let loose in Gujarat last year.
Every
time federal or provincial elections are around BJP allies like VHP
start raising the temple versus mosque issue in order to demonize
Muslims and consolidate Hindu vote in favor of the BJP. Hindu
consolidation is manipulated by creating the false image of a powerful
Muslim community with an adversarial relationship with Hindu society.
Although
this time round VHP leaders "criticized" the BJP-led
government for not allowing them to build the temple on the site of the
mosque, political observers know that the BJP and VHP are too closely
aligned for any critical references to harm their ties.
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VHP
activist shouts slogans during demonstration outside
parliament
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The
decision to lay siege to national parliament was taken at the dharma
sansad Sunday, February 23 in the presence of 10,000 temple activists
from all parts of the country. VHP volunteers and the ascetics, shouted
slogans like Mandir wahin banayenge (we will build the temple at the
very site of the mosque). The slogans had clear anti-Muslim, anti-Islam
overtones.
Temples
supporters rolled out red carpets for the volunteers to sit on during
the “siege”, although the police managed to keep the entry points to
parliament open. On the other hand, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh
state in Central India claimed that most of the people masquerading as
ascetics and priests were in fact VHP volunteers in disguise who have
grown beards and donned Hindu holy men's clothes.
Speaking
to newspersons at Gawallior airport in Madhya Pradesh state Sunday,
February 23 chief minister Digvijay Singh expressed concern about the
intent of VHP, which could be a threat to social peace and amity. Singh
was also unhappy about the exclusion of the Hindu creed's top priests,
the Shankracharyas, from the congregation.
During
the dharma sansad leaders had made a public offer to the largest and
oldest political party of India – the Congress Party – that the VHP
would support Congress candidates in elections if it supported the
temple movement. However, the Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy
categorically rejected the offer Sunday, February 23 in New Delhi,
saying the party believed only a court of law could decide the issue.
Another
senior Congress party leader Parnab Mukherjee said the federal
government was “siding with one of the interested parties” (Hindus)
at the cost of the other (Muslims) instead of being impartial.
Meanwhile,
in a parallel development, the country’s premier investigation agency,
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a petition in a special
court in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Sunday, February 23,
seeking permission to launch criminal proceedings against deputy prime
minister LK Advani and several other BJP leaders, including senior
ministers in the federal government, for having incited a mob to
demolish Babri Masjid in 1992.
Advani
and other senior leaders of his party (some of whom are ministers now)
had mobilized hundreds of thousands of Hindus to gather near the
historic mosque where they delivered fiery speeches. The volatile mob
demolished the mosque as these leaders watched gleefully.
The
court case against these was quashed on purely technical grounds by the
Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on February 12, 2001. The
court had left it open for the state government to rectify the technical
defects by issuing another order but since the current state government
is backed by the BJP, it did not oblige. Now the case has been revived
on orders of the Supreme Court of India.
Today's
demonstration ended on VHP issuing threats that it will to intensify the
stir if the so-called "undisputed" land adjacent to the Babri
site was not returned by March 25.
Describing
the agitation program as the "last religious war", VHP
firebrand leader Praveen Togadia warned that if the construction of the
Ram temple was not allowed at the earliest "every village would be
turned into Ayodhya."
Temple
trust chief Paramhamsa Ramchandra Dass, who had threatened to commit
suicide ahead of the 'Shilaadan' program last year, today warned that he
would carry the building material on his head and proceed to
"undisputed site" if it was not returned by March 25.
VHP
has announced a mass awareness 'Dilli Chalo' (go to Delhi) program from
March 5-24 culminating in a protest rally in Delhi on March 27. It had
also announced country-wide protests on February 27, the first
anniversary of the Godhra massacre which was used to ignite the pogroms
in Gujarat last year.
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