Chandigarh, August 24
The firebrand Vishva Hindu Parishad leader, Dr Parveen Togadia, on his first visit to the city refrained from directly hitting at the BJP-led government on the issue of legislation on the Ayodhya mandir and the uniform civil code.

Dr Togadia, who was in the city as part of the ‘Nirman Sankalp Sutra Abhiyan’, said after the ruling NDA alliance failed to pass a legislation on the Ayodhya mandir, the VHP had no alternative but to further speed up its mass movement on the issue. The process of dialogue and the judicial system, initiated years ago, had failed to resolve the issue.

Talking to mediapersons at a press conference, the VHP International General Secretary said the highest decision-making body of saints on the Ayodhya mandir would meet on September 14 and 15 to decide on the further course of action. Through the Ayodhya issue, the VHP was creating awareness against the cross-border terrorism.

On the government failing to muster support on legislation for the mandir in the monsoon session despite the VHP claiming support of 159 Members of Parliament of the BJP, BJD and Shiv Sena, Dr Togadia, said it had no link with the NDA. But he hastened to add that the VHP had no link with any political party which did no have the Ram mandir on its agenda.

On the opposition to the distribution of ‘trishul’ as part of the ‘Sankalp Sutra Abhiyan’ by the state government in Rajasthan and Bihar, Dr Togadia, said, “The political leadership in the country feels threatened from me rather than from Osama bin Laden.” He said the ‘trishul’ was not distributed for self-defence but for worship.

Earlier, addressing a limited gathering of supporters, Dr Togadia tried to strike a chord with the Sikhs by mentioning the sacrifices made by the Sikh gurus and their resistance to the Islamic invaders. He said it was very unfortunate that the community was “not secure in its own nation”.

Incidents of terrorist attacks at railway stations, mandirs, hospitals, bus stands and vehicles of public transport were increasing. The increase in train accidents in the country were part of the nefarious design of the Islamic jehadis, he alleged. He sought an inquiry into the mishaps.

Dr Togadia crticised the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in the Best Bakery case. He said, “Justice A.S. Anand, chairman of the rights commission, has demanded a retrial in the Best Bakery case. The commission had no faith in the judicial system”. When incidents of innocent people dying in Kashmir and people being rendered homeless are reported, no political leader was bothered about them. Any incident of attack on minorities catches the attention of the political parties due to the vote politics, said the VHP general secretary.