A challenge to SC: Opposition

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 18. The Opposition today condemned the forcible entry of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists into the disputed site at Ayodhya and demanded the arrest of those responsible for it. Describing the entry as a challenge to the Supreme Court, they urged the apex court to initiate suo motu action against the culprits. It also accused the Sangh Parivar of upping the communal ante with an eye on the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress said the VHP leaders were guilty of deliberately defying and violating the law and called for their arrest on charges of criminal trespass. ``This is a deliberate act meant to defy the Supreme Court order,'' the Congress spokesperson, Mr. Jaipal Reddy, said.

The party did not accept the explanation given by the U.P. Government and the BJP leadership that what had happened on Wednesday was a ``security lapse.'' ``It's an integral part of their build-up and a calculated attempt to divide the people on communal lines in the run up to the Assembly elections in U.P.,'' Mr. Reddy said.

The Samajwadi Party president, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, demanded that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, step down on ``moral grounds'' and urged the Supreme Court to initiate suo motu action against all those who forcibly entered the disputed site at Ayodhya. He charged that the move was made with an eye on the U.P. elections since the ``Rajnath Singh Government was scared of losing power.''

Mr. Yadav said the incident could not have taken place without the ``connivance'' of both the Central and the U.P. Governments since the structure was guarded by Central police forces while the State administration maintained constant contact with the local administration at the site. He said the Governments at Lucknow and Delhi got updates at periodic intervals from their intelligence channels and the forcible entry could not have escaped their attention.

The Left parties too demanded the immediate arrest of those involved, with the CPI(M) suggesting that the Union Home Minister should be made accountable for such activities at the site which came under the jurisdiction of the Centre and the CPI hoping that the apex court would take suo motu action against the VHP for violating its orders.

The Left parties alleged that the VHP and the Bajrang Dal were encouraged by Mr. Vajpayee's statement in Lucknow earlier this year that a solution to the Ayodhya tangle would be found by March 2002. This was followed by the revival of the Ayodhya cell in the PMO.

The Samata Party president, Mr. V.V. Krishna Rao, demanded that the Government enforce the law against those responsible for the act. The party was opposed to any group breaking the law and trying to use religion for its own need, he added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : A security lapse at Ayodhya, admits PM
Next     : Islamabad denies firing