M A I N   N E W S

Uproar in LS over VHP’s ‘asthi yatra’
PM calls NDA meeting today, allies also to confer
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21
A sharp acrimonious verbal dual leading almost to blows between a Janata Dal (U) MP and two BJP MPs forced Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed to adjourn the Lok Sabha.

Later, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee convened a meeting of NDA parties for tomorrow to sort out differences over the activities of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The BJP’s allies in the NDA are also meeting tomorrow to build up pressure on the Prime Minister to adhere to the secular agenda of the coalition and prevent pro-Hindutva forces from ‘’going berserk’’.

The adjournment in the Lok Sabha came after long and heated exchanges between the Opposition and the ruling benches over the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s proposed plan to take “asthi (ashes) yatra” all over the country.

It almost came to blows as Janata Dal MP Devendra Prasad Yadav threatened to walk out of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the self-claimed “thekedars of Hindus” continued to defy the Prime Minister’s appeal for sanity and insist on taking out the Godhra victims’ “asthi yatra”.

“Had we known that a section of the BJP would insist on implementing the Hindutva agenda, our party would not have joined the NDA government in the first place,” Mr Yadav said.

Speaking during zero hour on the Gujarat violence, Mr Yadav said the hardliners were forcing the BJP to drift away from the national agenda of governance.

The “saffron brigade”, he said, had challenged the authority of the Supreme Court and the Constitution.

“How can the country be governed if the Prime Minister, the chief executive authority, is treated just like a leader of the BJP and his words do not carry any weight with saffronites,” Mr Yadav asked, referring to problems being faced by a Indian National Lok Dal MP Sushil Kumar Indora from members of the saffron brigade.

The moment Mr Indora said that some “sadhus” had pitched a tent and were performing a “kirtan”, former Bajrang Dal President and now BJP MP from Faizabad Vinay Katiyar took exception to the description of his party as a “saffron brigade” and said it was an insult to the Hindu Samaj. Another BJP MP, Mr Adityanath, was also on his feet objecting to the reference as “saffron”.

NDA convener George Fernandes was also present in the House during this period.

Amid heated exchanges, Mr Yadav said the VHP was not the “thekedar” (custodian) of the Hindu community. “I am also a Hindu and the VHP has no role in my life or faith.”

Mr Raghunath Jha (Samata) and M.V.V.S. Murthy (TDP) also opposed Mr Katiyar for repeatedly obstructing Mr Yadav.

This led to a furore, forcing the Deputy Speaker to adjourn the House.

Even after the House was adjourned, Mr Yadav was seen exchanging heated words with Mr Katiyar, as members tried to calm them down.

Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar (SJP-R) was also seen pacifying both sides.

Earlier, the Lok Sabha witnessed acrimonious scenes with the Opposition demanding a ban on the VHP’s proposed “Godhra asti yatra” and the ruling BJP accusing the Congress of being responsible for the communal violence in Gujarat.

Stung by the remark of BJP chief whip Vijay Kumar Malhotra that the Opposition was behind the trouble in Gujarat, agitated Congress members, led by Mr Sankarsinh Vaghela, trooped into the well during question hour before being persuaded by their party colleague Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi to return to their seats.

Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s plea to the Vajpayee government to rein in the VHP from going ahead with the “Godhra asti yatra” on the grounds that it could inflame communal passions in the country sparked off angry exchanges between Opposition and ruling party members.

Several BJP members were on their feet booing the former Prime Minister for his suggestion, forcing Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan to move towards their party members in a bid to pacify them. Hardly had the din subsided that Mr Malhotra accused four Congress councillors of Godhra of having links with the Pakistan’s ISI and being responsible for the entire episode.

Maintaining that normalcy had been restored in Gujarat, Mr Malhotra said the “poisonous propaganda” by the Opposition was leading to sporadic incidents in the state. Congress leaders who preached secularism did not visit Godhra, he said.

Mr Raghuvans Prasad Singh (RJD) demanded the resignation of Home Minister L.K. Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for their failure to bring about normalcy in Gujarat.

Mr Ramji Lal Suman (SP) said the BJP’s hidden agenda against religious minorities had become open after the drubbing it received in the recent assembly elections in four states.

Earlier, the Congress, the RJD and other Opposition parties staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha during question hour protesting against the re-induction of Mr George Fernandes as Defence Minister without clearance by the Venkataswami Commission probing the Tehalka scam.

The Opposition members said they would not take an answer from Mr Fernandes, who was present in the House, to a question on welfare schemes for ex-servicemen.

As an ideological rift over the Hindutva issue between the BJP hardliners and its allies came to the fore in Lok Sabha today, angry partners and supporters of the NDA are meeting tomorrow to review matters that have been disturbing them.

Five killed in police firing

Ahmedabad, March 21
At least six persons were killed, five of them in police firing, in Kalupur police station area this evening while 15 were injured in various incidents of rioting in the walled city area.

One person was stabbed to death. Ten of the injured, including an Army jawan, sustained bullet injuries. UNI