Addressing a press conference in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress Rajya Sabha member termed Bajrang Dal -- the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- a goondon ki jamat (group of goons).
Vowing not to give an 'inch of land belonging to Lord Jagannath of Puri' for the proposed Vedanta University in Orissa, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international secretary General Pravin Bhai Togadia on Wednesday said his outfit would fight tooth and nail to protect the 'land of the Lord'. "We vehemently oppose the move of the Naveen Patnaik-led government to hand over thousands of acres of land belonging to Lord Jagannath and the VHP," he said.
Protesters torched 24 houses in Kandhamal on Saturday as the death toll in the week-long communal violence rose to 14, with the recovery of two more bodies in the Orissa district.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was headed for the curfew-bound district to review the situation in the affected areas and the Ashram at Jalespeta, where Vishwa Hindu Parishad Laxamanada Saraswati was gunned down along with three others on August 23, leading to the violence.
At least two persons were killed and two injured when police opened fire on Tuesday to disperse a mob attacked places of worships, prayer halls, houses and shops at Barakhama in Orissa's Kandhamal district rocked by violence in the wake of the killing of a VHP leader.
The Special Investigation Team probing the alleged role of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in post-Godhra killing of ex-Congress Member of Parliament Ehasan Jafri on Friday submitted its report to the Supreme Court.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia was questioned by Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team, which is probing some cases of 2002 riots, for more than four hours in Gandhinagar on Monday.
At the dharam sansad, a resolution was adopted to mobilise support for a Ram temple from March 5 to 24, and give a call for Dilli Chalo.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday questioned the Centre's assertion before the Supreme Court that Lord Ram himself had destroyed the Ram Setu (Adam's bridge) and said it was a distortion of history."Nowhere in the Kamba Ramayan is it mentioned that Lord Ram destroyed the bridge. It is to appease Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose party is a partner in UPA, that Centre is doing such things," VHP president Ashok Singhal said.
The VHP has warned against any such move.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia, who was summoned by the Special Investigation Team for questioning in a 2002 Gujarat riot case, failed to appear on Monday before the Supreme Court-constituted agency in Ahmedabad.
A peace march was taken out in Doda district, where 19 Hindus were killed, to express solidarity with families of the victims.
Advani met RSS chief K Sudarshan and VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Parveen Togadia to discuss current political situation in the country. At least 15 top leaders of the RSS and the VHP were also present.
Fresh violence erupted in Indore on Friday, leading to the imposition of curfew in the entire city, a day after four persons were killed in clashes during the Bharatiya Janata Party Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored bandh against the revocation of land to Amarnath shrine board.
The petition seeks registration of FIRs against VHP leaders for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Delhi in February. The Delhi high court has issued notices to the Centre, state government and police.
VHP international president Ashok Singhal told reporters in Chennai on Thursday that the meeting, to be held on June 15 and 16 at Haridwar, would also decide on a 'massive agitation' involving 50,000 people, in support of the Ram Sethu movement.
Raising anti-Taliban slogans, Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir blocked roads for hours and burnt tyres during a bandh on Tuesday to protest the recent killing of two members of the community in Pakistan's restive tribal belt and demanded concrete steps for ensuring the safety of minorities in that country.
Joseph Cooper was carrying out religious propaganda in violation of Indian laws, it said.
The VHP international working president said politicising the yatra damaged the Hindutva cause and turned the Ram Janambhoomi into a single party affair.
The saffron outfit organised a programme and took a pledge to ensure that a Ram temple was constructed at the disputed site.
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had no knowledge of the plan to demolish Babri Masjid and he believed in the assurance given by top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders concerning the march to Ayodhya in 1992 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and security at the disputed site, Rao's former media adviser PVRK Prasad said on Sunday.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored bandh, in protest against the Ayodhya attack, in Maharashtra, Bihar and Assam\non Thursday failed to evoke much response, excepting stray incidents of violence.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday appealed to Indians to boycott Chinese goods in view of the 'repeated' incursions by the neighbouring country along the Line of Actual Control. "We appeal to people to boycott Chinese toys, edibles and electronics and other material in our country as China is daily violating our territory on the ground and in the air in Ladakh and North-East," said VHP president Ramakant Dubey.
By polarising the Hindu vote, the expose might help the BJP and Modi, but in the long run, it will dent Modi's credibility.
VHP working president Ashok Singhal said Advani is only good as a stop-gap BJP president.
The relief camp at Tiangia under 'G' Udayagiri block housing 500 people, was the last one to be closed on Friday, Kandhamal District Magistrate Krishna Kumar told PTI over the phone. Altogether 25,000 people were housed in over 15 relief camps during the violence in the aftermath of the killing of senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, Kumar said.
In a telephonic talk with DMK parliamentary party leader and Union Minister T R Baalu on Sunday night, Sonia said, "Let us continue to concentrate on pubic service without being cowed down by such threats."
In the first conviction ten months after riots rocked the Kandhamal district in Orissa, a tribal leader has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment by a local court in Phulbani on charge of setting ablaze a house of a man belonging to a minority community.
Kodnani is an accused in the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya case. Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Jaideep Patel, another key accused in the Naroda Gam case behind bars, was also granted bail.
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.
Tell us what you think about the Kanchi Shankaracharya's arrest.
After boycotting Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani on the first day of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh national executive in Haridwar, top Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders are expected to attend the meeting on Saturday.
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