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Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Government blamed for ‘lawlessness’

Staff Reporter

VHP leader accuses Congress leader of masterminding the attack

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Enforcing bandh: Activists of the VHP staging protest in front of the Falaknuma Express at Berhampur railway station on Tuesday. —

BHUBANESWAR: Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who was attacked by some miscreants in Kandhamal district on Monday, has held Congress leaders responsible for the incident.

Speaking to newsmen here when he was being shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Tuesday, the VHP Central Committee member accused Congress MP Radhakanta Nayak of masterminding the attack near Brahmanigaon village.

“The Congress MP has been in the forefront of the force which has been trying to eliminate me since 1970. This is perhaps the 10th attack on my life,” Laxmanananda Saraswati said. The octogenarian Sangh Parivar leader demanded that Mr. Nayak be immediately arrested for the violence.

Meanwhile, an all-Opposition meeting that was convened here urged the government to provide protection to minority groups that were at the receiving end. “The whole district is under siege of Sangh Parivar workers. No one can enter remote areas where churches are being damaged in an organised manner.

The police appear to be mute spectators,” Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee President Jayadev Jena said.

In a joint statement, the Congress, the CPI(M), the NCP, the CPI and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) condemned the incident and criticised the non-serious attitude of the government toward the violence.

“VHP activists have been given a free hand to carry out well-orchestrated attack on churches and educational institutions being run by missionary organisations. However, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is busy planning for his party’s rally on Wednesday,” CPI (M) State secretary Janardhan Pati said.

Peace rally

OPCC president said that hundreds of Sangh Parivar activists barged into several police stations and attacked police personnel, which clearly indicated that lawlessness prevailed in the district.

The opposition parties said they were planning to take out a peace rally to appeal to people to remain calm.

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