Ahmedabad, November 17
A tense Sunday passed off peacefully in Gujarat with the authorities making pre-emptive arrests of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) top leaders Pravin Togadia and Acharya Dharmendra along with around 500 activists here while heading towards Godhra to kick off the controversial “vijay yatra” banned by the Election Commission and releasing the leaders only after the scheduled time of the programme.Working in tandem, the authorities in Godhra arrested around 50 persons, including Bajrang Dal national President Haresh Bhatt, VHP and BJP activists and 10 “sadhus”, for trying to enter the proposed venue of the yatra.
A local court later released on bail the leaders and activists arrested in Ahmedabad. They were freed only after 3 p.m., the scheduled time for flagging off the yatra from Godhra.
Reports from Godhra said while the Ahmedabad police engaged in a minor tussle with the VHP workers, the Godhra authorities had to order a mild cane-charge to disperse the VHP workers there. Barring these, the state was peaceful with no untoward incident reported from any part.
Mr Togadia said VHP functionaries would meet tomorrow to decide the future course of action. He said the organisation’s activists would fan out to all parts of Gujarat to defeat ‘’pseudo-secularists’’ and make the December 12 poll to the state assembly the Waterloo of the Congress.
In a day of dramatic and tense developments, hundreds of VHP workers thronged the Somnath Temple complex in Ahmedabad around 9 a.m. and demanded entry into the temple. The police had a tough time controlling the slogan-shouting activists. Some of the workers were rounded up for a brief time. Later, the temple priests asked the police to move out of the complex premises.
Mr Togadia and Acharya Dharmendra reached the complex around 10.30 a.m. and the police allowed them and some workers to enter the premises.
The leaders performed “paduka poojan” as a prelude to the “vijay yatra” and embarked on the journey to Godhra in
a jeep-turned-“rath” when the police arrested them.
The police officially arrested 45 VHP activists, including the leaders, in Ahmedabad for violating prohibitory orders, while nearly 500 other activists courted arrest in the city.
The activists, including Mr Togadia’s wife Rashmikaben and daughter Ami, were taken to the police station at Shahibaug. They were seen singing bhajan and having lunch there.
The VHP had announced that the leaders would proceed towards Godhra from Vijay Chowk in Bapunagar here after worshipping the ‘padukas’ (wooden sandals), of Samarth Swami Ramdas, the spiritual guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The VHP claimed that its yatra was aimed at fulfilling the Swami’s dream of “Hindupad padshahi” (Hindu sovereignty).
The yatra from Godhra to Ahmedabad starting from today till December 6 was scheduled to pass through nearly 200 towns and cities of Gujarat.
However, in view of the Assembly elections, the Election Commission decided to ban the yatra and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had also advised the VHP to cancel it. But the VHP rejected the Prime Minister’s appeal.
UNI
