Front Page

No accord unless Govt. allows `puja': VHP
By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH. 1. As the toll in Gujarat and elsewhere rose, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's senior vice president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, described the violence there as ``a little violent reaction'', and added that today the level of violence in the State was ``negligible''.

Asked if he was justifying the violence, he said, ``the Government and other people have said that Godhra happened because of the Ayodhya campaign.. I say Gujarat has happened because of Godhra.''

Acharya Kishore, who was talking to presspersons, denied that an agreement had been reached between the Government and the VHP. ``An agreement is possible only if we get a written assurance that within a certain period we will be able to place stones on the land and perform a ``puja'' (for 100 days) and later build a temple.'' Elaborating on what was meant by ``a certain period'', he said ``no more than three months''.

Would the VHP would then scale back its temple movement? He said they would try to persuade the sants led by Ramchandra Paramhans, to do so. A written assurance had to come either from the Prime Minister or the Home Minister. Reminded that Ramchandra Paramhans had on Thursday said that things would not be allowed to reach a point that would force the Government down, he said ``we don't want the Government to fall... Ayodhya will not impact on the Government.''

Retreating from his attack on the Prime Minister - calling him ``criminally negligent'' - Acharya Kishore targeted Muslims, saying,``I don't hold the Prime Minister responsible .. I hold the Muslim psyche responsible for what is happening in Gujarat.''

Muslims were ``taught by the Quran to have hatred for non-Muslims,''he added. On whether the Godhra attack might be ``politically motivated'' rather than communal since it was alleged that ``a Congress corporator'' was involved, he said: ``A Muslim in any party is a Muslim first.'' His colleague, Om Prakash Singhal, president of Delhi VHP, told the journalists ``why don't you concentrate on Godhra''.

Acharya Kishore insisted that there was ``a difference between a planned attack and mob psychology, what happened in Godhra was planned what is happening now in Gujarat is mob psychology.''

He said the VHP planned to take the ashes of those who had died in the Godhra attack to Ayodhya.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Shoot orders in many Gujarat towns, toll over 200
• Govt. will act tough: PM
• No accord unless Govt. allows `puja': VHP
• Priority for controlling violence, says Advani
• Two killed in U.P. violence
• SC stay on syllabi
• Bail for Tiger Memon's brother

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu