National

VHP wants Farooq sacked

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 2. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad today launched a full-scale attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, demanding that he be immediately sacked and the State put under President's Rule. As for the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the VHP's view was that "anyone who distances himself from his `parivar' (family) is bound to feel pain.'' That second statement was a reaction to Mr. Vajpayee's latest poem which has been seen as a comment on the Sangh Parivar and his feeling of distance between himself and the Parivar.

The immediate provocation for the demand that Dr. Abdullah be sacked was the terrorist strike on the Raghunath temple in Jammu two days ago and the arrests of some local VHP leaders after the organisation called for a Jammu bandh. The VHP general secretary, Praveen Togadia, alleged that the State Government was part of the conspiracy "to push the Hindus in Jammu out towards Pathankot'' just as Hindus were forced to leave the Valley several years ago. Though the Jammu "bandh" yesterday and today had been peaceful, the State Government had arrested VHP leaders instead of going after the "jehadi" terrorists. He said that some VHP leaders would be visiting Jammu to study the situation before announcing a major agitation plan. "We are again warning. Hindus are running out of patience. If incidents like Godhra and the attack on the Raghunath temple do not stop, there will be no stopping the Hindus who are feeling cornered.''

The VHP continued to virtually justify the carnage in Gujarat with Mr. Togadia comparing the "public anger'' against Godhra to the people's reaction against the British in the days of the freedom struggle.

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