Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

BJP, VHP call bandh today

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Dec.7. The State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have called for a bandh in the twin cities and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district on Monday to protest against "police failure" in preventing outbreak of communal trouble in the old the city and to express solidarity with the victims.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, the Union Minister of State for Urban Development, B. Dattatreya, vice-president, V. Seshagiri Rao, general secretaries, Kishen Reddy and Laxman, said that the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen(MIM) and the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) parties should own responsibility for the incidents and alleged that the trouble was engineered with an eye on the coming elections.

They said that the incidents occurred according to a pattern and the intelligence wing should have anticipated it. They criticised the police for allowing the black day protest rally by Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat (DJS) in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary. They also found fault with the police for removing the Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalions by Saturday evening after the bandh passed off peacefully in the old city.

At a separate press conference, the VHP office-bearers B. Manikyachari, working president, T. Murlidhar Rao, general secretary and G. Satyam, organising secretary, demanded Rs. 25 lakhs compensation for the next of kin of the Hindus killed in the violence as well as enquiry into the negligence of doctors and staff at Osmania General Hospital.

They also accused the Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat (DJS) of instigating the violence.

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