The Hindu : Another batch leaves for Ayodhya

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2003

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Another batch leaves for Ayodhya

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD Oct. 14. Another batch of Trishul-wielding Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists from Gujarat left today by the Sabarmati Express for Ayodhya to participate in the October 17 programme there.

According to the VHP State general secretary, Jaideep Patel, the activists would first go to Delhi to protest against the NDA Government for its "anti-Hindu" stance, and would later leave for Ayodhya. Several VHP activists from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Godhra and other towns in Gujarat have earlier left for Ayodhya but the VHP leaders here are unaware of their whereabouts.

Mr. Patel said that despite all attempts by the Uttar Pradesh Government, the Ram Sevaks would reach their destination.

An embarrassed VHP leadership, meanwhile, reacted strongly to the reported move by some family members of the victims of the Godhra train carnage to approach the Supreme Court to "expose" the "political motives" of the VHP behind the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. The VHP leaders while claiming that the Parishad was looking after the family members well as promised following alleged that some of them had been "bought over" by so-called secularist forces to wage a "war" against the VHP.

The 80-year-old former civil surgeon, Girishchandra Raval, who lost his wife in the Godhra train incident and his son in the subsequent communal riots, had told the media in Mumbai that he and some others were planning to approach the Supreme Court against the VHP. He also accused the VHP of deliberately fanning religious sentiments to make political use of the Godhra incident.

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