The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal on Wednesday warned that they will not allow pilgrims to reach the Ajmer Dargah, where the annual Urs has begun, unless the Jammu and Kashmir government withdraws its latest order revoking the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.Bajrang Dal Rajasthan unit's convenor Mahendra Singh Meena said that Hindu activists of the saffron outfits would block buses carrying pilgrims in Rajasthan during the two-day bandh.
Dubbing the explosion in Varanasi as "a heinous act of Jehadi terrorism", Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday demanded the holy city of Kashi be accorded the status of a "protected heritage site" and entry of non-Hindus into it be banned.
With just 10 days left for the court verdict on Ayodhya title suits, political leader Kalyan Singh said he would visit the disputed site on September 16 to have "darshans" of Lord Ram and discuss with saints and VHP leaders the issue of building a temple there.
They have been asked to verify the list of 346 families handed over by the local MP who have allegedly migrated, he said.
The police do not have it in them to confront the Hindutva groups in a country ruled by a Hindutva party. No wonder Munawar Faruqui feels this is the end for him, asserts Jyoti Punwani.
Eight persons, including a Maoist leader, were sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment on Thursday by a court in Kandhamal district for the murder of senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others in 2008 that triggered communal violence leaving 37 dead.
Every February 28th, Zakia Jafri relives the agony of witnessing the brutal massacre of her husband, former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, along with scores of other women and children. Despite deteriorating health, her hope that those responsible will be brought to justice, remains strong, notes Najid Hussain.
'He was a nobody then.' 'And whatever little his contribution was there, it was restricted to Gujarat.'
Modi's presence at the evnt would open wounds, the Hyderabad MP said.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad was unable to carry out its plan of a massive congregation in Ayodhya.
The meet will discuss the organisation's strategy to galvanise and energise the cadre
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
The outfit's international president Ashok Singhal said there was no need for a new mosque in Ayodhya.
VHP leader Pravin Togadia insisted any negotiated settlement should involve handing over the disputed site to Hindus unconditionally.
"The decision to informally hand over the reins of VHP to Togadia has been taken in view of my advancing age and poor health," VHP chief Ashok Singhal told reporters in Allahabad.
A lowdown on what's going on in the Tamil film industry.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had no qualms seeking a state government car for its general secretary Praveen Togadia to tour Rajasthan.
Dr S Q R Ilyas, head of the BMAC and a senior member of the board, feels that the Sangh Parivar should not have raked up the Ram temple issue. In a candid chat with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Dr Ilyas said the recent proclamation by the RSS, VHP and BJP was a desperate measure to rake up the issue of Hindutva once again
Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said it is the "dream" of the people of the country that Ram Mandir is built as early as possible.
'We had no inkling this would come. Admittedly, we failed to inspire confidence in migrants that no harm would come to them if they stayed back.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Prohibitory orders were on Sunday clamped in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district and security tightened across Orissa after the killing of a prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader and his five associates sparked protests in the state with a prayer house being torched.
The decision comes after a meeting between VHP president Ashok Singhal and Modi earlier in the day. The VHP had demanded that the demolition drive against temple be immediately stopped
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
The synod of Syro-Malabar Church has alleged that scores of women from Christian community from Kerala were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities. The VHP welcomed the Church statement.
All 32 accused in the 28-year-old Babri demolition case, including BJP's founder-members LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow.
The VHP will focus on non-religious topics and give the Ram temple a miss at the three-day Vaicharik Kumbh, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shashikant Trivedi reports.
Zakia Jafri's lawyer on Friday alleged before a court here that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had conspired to instigate Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers and other members of Hindu community after the Godhra train burning incident in 2002.
The Art of Living founder said that he was involved as a mediator in the RamTemple dispute of his own will and would visit Ayodhya on November 16 to meet all stakeholders.
With the Muzaffarnagar riots still fresh in its mind, the Centre has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain status quo in Ayodha, where the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has called for a 'Sankalp Diwas' rally, and prevent any attempt to incite communal tension anywhere in the state.
Like Modi, Keshav Prasad Maurya worked at tea stalls. Dinesh Sharma, on the other hand, is a professor at Lucknow university.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said it was never decided that the grand temple will be constructed through public donations, and political campaigning in the name of Lord Ram has to be stopped at some point of time.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
In its efforts to re-establish itself as a party espousing the RSS' core Hindutva ideology, the BJP has declared Ayodhya and Vande Mataram its election issues in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly polls are due next year.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
Political parties have slammed Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto especially over inclusion of Ram temple and other 'Hindutva' issues, saying it was only aimed at hoodwinking voters.
International general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Pravin Togadia and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi received a combined death threat Tuesday, VHP sources said in Ahmedabad.
