Other States - Orissa   

VHP denies role

BHUBANESWAR: The Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday denied its involvement in the communal violence in Kandhamal district and said that the “caste-based conflict emerged from the issue of conversions.” A delegation submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and demanded the arrest of miscreants who had carried out an attack on its central committee member Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and those who were behind it. “Everybody should be brought under the purview of inquiry of the Judicial Commission appointed by the government on communal violence in Kandhamal district,” State general secretary of the VHP Gouri Prasad Rath said.

Mr. Rath said the organisation’s role was limited to observing four-hour bandh on December 25 following the attack on Laxmanananda Saraswati but after that it was the simmering tension between dalits and tribal groups that exploded. Contrary to claims of Christian organisations, the VHP leader said that several temples were damaged by miscreants.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sand sculpture of Jesus enters record book
A bout of excitement
VHP denies role
BPSL workers go on the rampage
Goyal is General Manager of ECoR
Kui Samaj blames it on VHP
Schools turn shelters for them
NCP for waiver of ryots’ loans
BU Foundation Day on January 2
Education system ‘crumbling’
2 police districts reconstituted
Hotels go all out to woo revellers

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu