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Journalism of Courage
Pushed by its constitutional duty to honour the Election Commission’s directive, the state government late today banned the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s proposed dharmasabha and yatra from Godhra scheduled for Sunday.
The decision came after VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia slammed Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh and vowed to defy his order. Reacting to the state government’s decision, Togadia claimed Congress president Sonia Gandhi was behind the ban and that her party would lose ‘‘five constituencies for each such anti-Hindu action.’’
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PRAVINBHAI KO GUSSA KYON AATA HAI
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• The ban on his yatra comes in his strongest bastion, from the govt of Narendra Modi, a man whom he has praised as Hindutva’s new icon. |
‘‘Let us receive the order, then we will take a decision on what to do,’’ he said. ‘‘We would first like to see the reasons cited by the government…In a democracy, religious activity cannot be banned and Hindus will not tolerate this act.’’
Sources said that although the line between the VHP and the state BJP is most blurred in Gujarat—both actively co-operated during the gaurav yatra—no one in the administration is taking any chances.
Unlike the VHP bandh after the terrorist attack at Akshardham, when a strong message from the central leadership reached Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the VHP in the state, this time political circles are keeping their fingers crossed. And the administration isn’t taking any chances.
Chief Secretary G Subbarao has asked all district collectors in the State to strictly adhere to the EC’s directive and ensure that no permission is given to any organisation to take out processions or yatras which could incite communal tension.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ashok Narayan said that if the VHP still tried to take out the yatra, appropriate action would be taken against them. Both Narayan and Subbarao said, ‘‘We are not working under any political pressure’’.
Godhra’s sub-divisional magistrate J D Joshi had, on Wednesday, given permission to the VHP to hold a dharmasabha from 2 pm to 6 pm on November 17, and later take out a yatra from Bhuravav Chokdi. But following the EC directive, the Chief Secretary asked the Panchmahals Collector to review the SDM’s order. In the evening, Collector Manoj Aggarwal said permission given to the VHP had been withdrawn. ‘‘We won’t let the VHP take out their yatra,’’ said Aggarwal.
He said that though the administration didn’t expect any trouble on Sunday, an exact assessment of the situation could be done only on getting a feedback from the VHP. He said prohibitory orders, banning assembly of four or more persons and carrying of arms, were already in force in the town.
SP Narsimha Komar said the police would do everything, including preventive and punitive action, to enforce the ban.
For the VHP, however, all this meant little as it claimed that about 40,000 persons, including 40 sants from all over the country, would attend the dharma sabha.
The VHP’s tone was set by Togadia early in the day when he tore into the CEC and ‘‘secularists’’ for standing in his way. At a press conference, where he sounded as if he were speaking at a VHP rally, he said the yatra was to ‘‘save Hinduism’’ and give people the opportunity to pledge to work for a Hindu Rashtra.
Another objective, he said, was to remove the twin obstacles on the path to a Hindu Rashtra — ‘‘pseudo-secularists and politicians who blatantly appease the minorities.’’
‘‘These are the forces protecting jehadi fundamentalists — even though jehad-inspired militants have killed thousands of innocents over the last two decades,’’ he said.
Defying the EC order, he said the VHP would go ahead with its yatra. ‘‘There will be no floats depicting the burning S-6 compartment of the Sabarmati Express,’’ he said. ‘‘The yatra will comprise a Bhavani Rath carrying the padukas of Swami Ramdas, spiritual guru of Chhatrapati Shivaji, and it will be led by Acharya Dharmendra.’’
‘‘VHP is a non-political, religious organisation, and the EC has no power to ban a yatra that has nothing to do with elections,’’ he said. ‘‘The EC ban is based on media reports, and is like killing a child before it is born.’’
Togadia claimed that legal experts had told the VHP that the EC could not stop the yatra. ‘‘We will approach the courts if necessary to seek justice,’’ he said.
The VHP leader also had sharp words for Lyngdoh. The CEC, he said, was trying to ‘‘be the chief minister, chief secretary, and collector of all districts of Gujarat.’’
‘‘Lyngdoh is a Bihar cadre officer who is trying to create a Bihar-like situation here,’’ he said. ‘‘Lyngdoh has done that once before too: during the 1997 election in Radhanpur, in which he was central observer, he had tried to favour BJP rebel Shankersinh Vaghela.’’
Togadia said the decision to take out the yatra had been made months ago —in March after the Shiladan programme in Ayodhya— and would not change. This is the 18th yatra of its kind, he said.
The VHP’s yatra, named the Hindupat Padshahi Yatra, will pass through 200 villages across the state and end will end on December 6 at Vijay Chowk in the Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad. Bapunagar is where Togadia practised as an oncologist and now runs a busy hospital.
Collector Manoj Aggarwal said though the administration was not expecting any trouble on November 17, an exact assessment of the situation can be done only on getting a feedback from the VHP. He said prohibitory orders, banning assembly of four or more persons and carrying of arms, were already in force in the town.
SP Narsimha Komar said the police would do everything, including preventive and punitive action, to enforce the ban. The assessment of how much extra force is needed is being done. At present, only two paramilitary companies are assisting the local police in Godhra.
