Shift terrorists146; graves, say VHP

The terrorists who attacked the Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi complex are dead and buried, but both Hindu religious leaders and the Muslim com...

The terrorists who attacked the Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi complex are dead and buried, but both Hindu religious leaders and the Muslim community are now demanding removal of the bodies.

The UP Police had quietly buried the bodies of the five Pakistani terrorists at the small Tad Ki Takia graveyard in Faizabad within 18 hours of the attack. Hindu mahants, led by the VHP, are now demanding that the bodies be moved out of the 8216;8216;holy8217;8217; cities.

And the Muslims don8217;t want their dead to be buried anywhere near these graves. As The Indian Express had reported on July 7, the burials on the morning of July 6 had been opposed by the community. 8216;8216;Since then, the Muslims have started avoiding the graveyard8230;at least no one wants to bury their dead anywhere near the graves of the terrorists,8217;8217; Mohammad Sharif, in-charge of burying bodies at the graveyard said over the phone. 8216;8216;If the administration orders, we shall be too happy to shift the graves out of here8230;I had never given my approval.8217;8217;

The VHP has raised the pitch. 8216;8216;According to Hindu tradition in Ayodhya, the 14-km 8216;parikrama8217; boundary from the Ram Lalla temple is the most holy area. This includes the Ayodhya and Faizabad towns. Burying the terrorists inside this 8216;parikrama8217; area amounts to hurting Hindu sentiments,8217;8217; says senior VHP leader Ram Vilas Vedanti, who is spearheading the Ram temple movement in Ayodhya. 8216;8216;We want immediate removal of these graves from Faizabad. Ask Pakistan to claim the bodies or bury them elsewhere8230;after all the terrorists have been identified now as Pakistanis,8217;8217; he adds.

After holding a meeting of the mahants here, Vedanti met Faizabad Commissioner Arun Kumar Sinha yesterday and handed over a memorandum. Sinha says the administration is considering the demand on the ground of religious sentiments and 8216;8216;the matter will have to be referred to higher authorities in the government for a decision.8217;8217;

The VHP is, however, clear. 8216;8216;If the Mulayam Singh Yadav government does not remove the graves, the people of Faizabad will remove them forcibly,8217;8217; said Vedanti.

8216;8216;They landed at my doorstep around 7 am on July 6 saying they had orders from SSP Faizabad Avinash Chander to bury the bodies at the graveyard,8217;8217; recalls Mohammad Sharif. 8216;8216;I refused. Hum aatankvadi ki laash kaise daba sakte the. But the policemen insisted they were taking personal responsibility and would not insist on my approval in the register. They didn8217;t fill up the 8216;laawaris8217; register.8217;8217;

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One of the sub-inspectors, Gauri Shanker, just scribbled in the register that 8216;8216;on July 5, five terrorists carried out an attack at the Ayodhya temple and were killed. Their identity could not be established. So they are being buried at the graveyard as unidentified on July 6.8217;8217; SSP Avinash Chander said 8216;8216;the bodies were of no use and would have decomposed if kept any longer.8217;8217;

Arrested doctor brought to Ayodhya for questioning

LUCKNOW: Irfan Khan, the Saharanpur-based doctor who was arrested for his alleged links with the terrorists who attacked the disputed temple site on July 5, was brought to Ayodhya for interrogation on Monday. Khan would be produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, SSP Avinash Chandra said. The Special Task Force STF, meanwhile, has decided to send a request to the Centre to announce a cash award of Rs 5 lakh on the head of Mahmood, whose sketches were released by the police on Saturday as the sixth member of the terrorist gang that attacked the disputed site. 8212;ENS