A deep-rooted conspiracy: VHP

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. The senior vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Acharaya Giriraj Kishore, today termed Deepa Mehta's controversial film ``Water'' as a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame Hindu culture, but said the VHP and related organisations were not involved in the attack on the sets of the film in Varanasi.

``It is for the Central Government to decide whether to ban the shooting of the movie but we are opposed to its theme and shooting in Varanasi, as it attempts to tarnish the image of the country and project a particular religion in a negative manner,'' he said addressing a press conference here.

He charged Deepa Mehta of ``deliberately'' picking up controversial themes and targeting the Hindu culture in her films. ``There have been attempts for quite some time by people, who are looking towards foreign funding, to project Hinduism in an incorrect and defamatory manner''.

He refused to comment when asked whether the social evil of young widows and their plight should be fought and if the VHP was for such a cause.

The VHP also produced some deaf and dumb people of the Association of the Deaf, Bangalore, who alleged that they had been approached by a Christian missionary, Father Harry Stocks, for converting to Christianity. Both Mr. Ganesh Rao, general secretary of the association and Mr. Durai Raj, through an interpreter, sought a CBI inquiry into the entire affair. They said they had met the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

Acharaya Kishore condemned the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Digvijay Singh, for denying permission to the Bajrang Dal to hold its convention in Bhopal on February 18. ``We will forcibly hold the convention come what may and at the same time try and disrupt all the programmes of the Chief Minister all over the country,'' he threatened.

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Section  : National
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