The Hindu : National : VHP to organise `Ramjanma utsavs'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 17, 2005

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National

VHP to organise `Ramjanma utsavs'

Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL: The senior vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Giriraj Kishore, on Saturday announced that the Ramjanmabhoomi movement that was "torpedoed" by the previous National Democratic Alliance Government would be revived by organising "Ramjanma utsavs" at more than 10,000 places in the country.

At a press conference here, Acharya Kishore said the VHP would also launch a mass awakening drive to "inculcate a feeling of national pride." The VHP's "Margdarshak Mandal" (steering committee) would meet in Hardwar on June 14 and 15 to discuss carrying forward the message of Hindutva, national pride and spirituality. The decisions taken in Hardwar would be endorsed by the VHP's executive committee, scheduled to meet in Amritsar on June 28 and 29.

The VHP leader said the court would soon give a decision on the Ramjanmabhoomi issue. There was only one point before the court and that was whether a temple existed on the same site where the Babri Masjid was constructed. He said the courts could only discuss the land title and not where Lord Ram was born.

Explaining the VHP's future plans, Acharya Kishore said they would open working women's hostels and give discourses to tribals on the Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita.

To a query on the recent controversy over the RSS leader, K.S. Sudarshan's remarks on the leadership of the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Bharatiya Janata Party president, L.K. Advani, the VHP leader said that he supported the stand taken by Mr. Sudarshan.

The older generation of leaders should make way for younger leaders and restrict themselves to training the new leaders.

Acharya Kishore said the efforts of the previous NDA Government to build relations with Pakistan had failed. The present United Progressive Alliance Government had taken a complete U-turn on the previous Government of India policy that there could be no dialogue with Pakistan as long as it continued to support cross-border terrorism. Infiltration across the border with Bangladesh continued and nothing was being done to contain this problem.

He expressed concern over the security situation in the Kashmir valley and said the Jammu and Ladakh regions of Jammu and Kashmir should be given autonomy.

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