VHP leaders force entry into disputed site in Ayodhya

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, OCT. 17. senior leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, including its international president, Mr. Ashok Singhal, Mr. Pravinbhai Togadia and the former BJP MP, Mr. S. C. Dixit, today, defying the security arrangements, entered the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya and offered ``puja'' to the deity.

(Pilgrims are allowed only a ``darshan'' of the idol from a distance and priests alone are permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum).

Reports from Ayodhya said Mr. Dixit, who went for a ``darshan'' around 9.00 a.m., insisted on performing individual worship. As the security personnel told him that it was not allowed, he went on a sit-in strike.

Mr. Dixit was later joined by about 200 VHP activists, and other Hindu leaders, when they forced their way into the sanctum sanctorum, performed ``puja'' and raised slogans in favour of a Ram temple.

Officials later brought the leaders to a local temple and sought to arrest those who had violated the security arrangements. The VHP leaders insisted on being arrested along with the other activists. At this, the administration decided not to insist on their arrest and the VHP leaders left Ayodhya.

PTI reports:

Security personnel posted at the temple complex said securitymen of Mr. Singhal and Mr. Dixit misbehaved and forced their entry into the isolation zone.

Of the other VHP activists who defied the security, a former BJP MP from Delhi, Mr. Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem, was carrying a sword. The activists broke the locks of the ``kop bhawan' adjacent to the sanctum sanctorum, it was reported.

Mr. Singhal justified the entry into the isolation zone, saying that ``Ram Lalla'' was imprisoned in a condition ``worse than the prisoners of war,'' and added ``we do not adhere to the restrictions imposed upon the entry into the complex nor do we accept any such restrictions.''

The Police Commissioner, Mr. Anil Gupta, told presspersons that he would submit a detailed report to the Centre on the ``security breach'' as the area was under the control of the Union Government.

U.P. Govt. denial

The Uttar Pradesh Government tonight denied that the VHP activists, led by Mr. Singhal, had entered the sanctum sanctorum of the makeshift temple.

The U.P. Principal Secretary (Home), Mr. Naresh Dayal, said Mr. Singhal and other activists had only entered the ``prohibited area'' in the complex.

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