The crisis over the start date of the Amarnath Yatra deepened with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad showing no signs of relenting and a top VHP leader on Tuesday stating that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti will lead a contingent of devotees to the cave shrine on June 3. The board has left sadhus all across India angry by disobeying him, he added.
The police on Sunday detained 53 Bajrang Dal activists after foiling their bid to move towards Baltal base camp of Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir, ahead of the commencement of the annual pilgrimage in June. Flagged off by Vishwa Hindu Parishad state chief Rama Kant Dubey from Jammu city, a group of 150 members boarded two buses and left for Kashmir Valley. They were intercepted by the police on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Jajjarkotli, 35 km from Jammu.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia on Tuesday said the welcome of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari before the extradition of Mumbai terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed was a "matter of shame" and the Centre it seemed was taking it up only as a diplomatic issue.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday said its volunteers were active in Gandhian Anna Hazare's movement against corruption in Delhi last year.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday refused to accept the date fixed by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the annual pilgrimage to the cave temple in south Kashmir Himalayas, saying the yatra this year will commence on June 4 for which it will begin registering pilgrims from Friday.
Terror activities of some right-wing groups and Maoist violence will be high on agenda at the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 1.
Sunday's yatra proved that it needs both the maturity of locals as well as the police doing their duty, to ensure that a religious procession doesn't turn ugly.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday sought four additional companies of central forces following communal clashes in the state and said a battalion of the India Reserve Battalion will also be deployed in Nuh.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Drone cameras will monitor the crowds in real time.
Gulbarg massacre: This is where my father died
Security has been stepped up in the city and Godhra town in wake of the 10th anniversary of the Sabarmati Express train carnage, which killed 59 people and triggered large-scale communal violence in many parts of Gujarat in 2002 claiming over 1200 lives.
The 10th anniversary of Godhra train carnage, which left 59 karsevaks dead and triggered one of worst communal riots in Gujarat that claimed the lives of over 1200 Muslims, will be marked today by a slew of events with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad taking out a rally and Non-Governmental Organisations coming together to demand justice for the riot victims.
Singh identified the suspended police personnel as Head Constable Salek Chand and constables Neetu Singh and Priyanka.
Visiting diplomats from the European Union faced protest from Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists at the Bhubhaneshwar airport as soon as they landed in Orissa, on Tuesday. The diplomatic delegation comprised representatives from Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Britain, Finland and Sweden.
Ex-VHP president Pravin Togadia said that the Centre has reneged on its promises.
Even as the 19th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on Tuesday remained a non-event, what came as a pleasant surprise was the message of peace and communal amity from none other than Babri Masjid Action Committee.
The top court said the extension of tenure of the special judge will only be for the purpose of concluding the trial and delivering the verdict in the case.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday came in defence of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, prime accused in the Malegaon blasts, and called the imposition of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against them as 'political conspiracy'.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday urged the Hindus to mobilise the opinion of the community, put pressure and demand that Parliament pass a legislation to construct the Lord Rama temple at Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya.
Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party made it clear that the party does not subscribe to the views expressed by Dr Pravin Togadia, International general secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who said at Ahmedabad that those who convert Hindus should be beheaded. Surprisingly, none of them were willing to go on record.
Top VHP leaders, including Ashok Singhal, Pravin Togadia and Giriraj Kishore, have already in Kolkata for the event.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday said it was disappointed by the Gujarat court's decision to award death penalty to only 11 convicts in the Godhra train burning case and asked the state government to appeal against the verdict.
Ending all speculations, finally Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Patna on Saturday morning to attend the two-day Bharatiya Janata Party national executive meeting.
In the Marxists-ruled Kerala, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Kerala chapter has launched a helpline offering assistance to "Hindus in distress". Named Shivaji Hindu Helpline, the service particularly offers "help for Hindu girls who are being lured into what they call the trap of "love-jihad".
Nearly 40 days after violence erupted in Kandhamal district following the assassination of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati, the judicial commission on Friday began inquiry into the incidents, official sources said.
Tanvir Jaffrey, the son of former member of Parliament Ehsaan Jaffrey, who was killed in the post-Godhra riots in 2002, has lodged a complaint against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Praveen Togadia.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has opposed caste-based census, saying it would lead to caste based discrimination and strengthen casteist forces.
The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust is conducting a mass contact and contribution campaign for the construction of the grand temple in Ayodhya which began on January 15 and will go on till February 27.
A revealing excerpt from Mani Shankar Aiyar's fascinating new book, The Rajiv I Knew.
The shooting of Kathryn Bigelow's film on Osama bin Laden in Chandigarh to depict the killing of the al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad was stalled on Friday by Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists, who objected to the hoisting of Pakistani flags.
Following the threat held out by Praveen Togadia, international general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad that he would lead massive demonstrations if the Delhi government decided to serve beef to the foreign nationals taking part in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, Sheila Dixit's government has bowed to Togadia.
The discussion will prove Gandhi has more knowledge about religion and spirituality than these persons, Kamal Nath said.
Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal staged a demonstration in New Delhi on Saturday against the ban on their leader Praveen Togadia's visit to Orissa's Kandhamal district. The Orissa government has imposed a ban on VHP leader Togadia from entering the communally sensitive Kandhamal district."The state government didn't stop foreign missionaries from going to tribal areas of Kandhamal and other parts of Orissa," said a VHP leader.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday backed the Shiv Sena's protest against Shah Rukh Khan, saying there was 'nothing wrong' in it as the country is not prepared to tolerate a 'Pakistani sympathiser'. VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia, however, opposed Sena's 'Mumbai for Marathis' campaign. "Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, belongs to the entire country," he said.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of the permission given to a diplomatic delegation from European Union to visit Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday said the trip could trigger fresh tension in the district."The proposed visit of the EU delegation should be cancelled forthwith and the Orissa government must withdraw the permission granted for the purpose," said VHP state secretary Gouri Kumar Rath.
A day after the Nirmohi Akhara voiced its readiness to cooperate with the Ram Lala Virajman for building a temple in Ayodhya following talks with a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, the man who represented the deity in the court said he did not authorise anyone to negotiate on his behalf.
Representatives of the Shia community on Wednesday flatly rejected Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal's offer to hold talks on the Ayodhya issue.Singhal had said that since the Allahabad high court had dismissed the Sunni Waqf Board's suit staking claim to the disputed Ramjanma bhoomi- Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya, the VHP would now hold talks with Shia organisations. "The VHP is now trying to incite a confrontation between Shias and Sunnis," said a Shia cleric.
Under attack from Bharatiya Janata Party for his remarks that '2010 is not 1992,' Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday hit back saying if Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and BJP behave in a responsible manner after September 30, he will reconsider his statement.
"Moves of conciliation are unacceptable to all the parties involved...previous meetings to resolve the issue through talks have remained futile. The option of talks is not open so far," VHP president Ashok Singhal said in New Delhi.
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