The much-hyped chaurasi kosi yatra of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad around Ayodhya turned out to be a flop show as the security personnel did not allow anyone saint to take it out.
Annoyed with the UP Government’s crackdown to enforce the ban on the yatra, the VHP gave a call for nation-wide protest against the arrest of its leaders, activists and seers, saying the government action was against the tenets of Indian Constitution. The main protest will be held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday.
In lucknow, the government officials said the day passed off peacefully as no saint was allowed to take out the yatra. “At least 1,698 persons going to take part in the yatra were arrested all over the state,” ADG (law and Order) RK Vishwakarma said, adding that 600 arrests were made in Faizabad-Ayodhya. The ADG said the arrested persons would remain in police custody till September 13.
long queues of stranded trucks laden with essential commodities could be seen in Barabanki and Gonda as the administration had sealed off these two districts along with four others. Meanwhile, amidst claims and counter claims between the VHP and Uttar Pradesh Government about the success of the yatra, all the top VHP leaders were arrested on the first day of the 20-day-long yatra.
The UP Government claimed that the ban on the yatra was effective and no one could participate in it. The Government, however, issued a state-wide alert against VHP’s proposed agitation to be held at all district headquarters on Monday. The VHP claimed that its yatra was kicked off at Saryu ghat when Praveen Bhai Togadia offered ‘puja’ before his arrest in Ayodhya.
The yatra was slated to start from Makhaura in Basti district. State Home Secretary Kamal Saxena said here that the security in the six districts of Barabanki, Faizabad, Gonda, Basti, Ambedkar Nagar and Bahraich from where the yatra was to pass would not be lowered till September 13 or the date when the VHP calls off the yatra.
He also announced that all the detained or arrested sadhus, saints and VHP leaders would be kept in detention for the next 14 days under Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code so that they do not create problems for the government again. A report from Faizabad said that 625 persons were arrested in the district and sent to jails in other districts.
District Magistrate Vipin Dwivedi himself chased Bharatiya Janata Party’s former MlA lalu Singh by his car to arrest him. The VHP activists also burnt the effigy of Cabinet Minister Mohammad Azam Khan saying the ban was imposed on the yatra at his behest. According to the government figures, 625 arrests were made in Faizabad, 65 in Basti, 100 in Kanpur, 53 in Sultanpur, 59 in Ambedkar Nagar, 20 in Sant Kabir Nagar, four in Bahraich, 13 in lucknow and 167 in Barabanki.
VHP patron Ashok Singhal was arrested at lucknow Airport after a 3-hour-long drama, Praveen Togadia and Ram Vilas Vedanti were detained in Ayodhya , BJP’s former MlA lalu Singh was held in Faizabad, BJP MlA Savtri Bai Phule was arrested in Bahraich, BJP MlA Ramchandra Yadav was detained at Charbagh railway station in lucknow.
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was arrested and then released by the police in Ayodhya. However, the police officials failed to explain how Togadia entered Ayodhya on Saturday when there was ban on the entry of the VHP leaders. During his detention in Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary guest house in Unnao, Ashok Singhal announced that the yatra would continue and the VHP activists would stage countrywide protest against the atrocities of the UP Government on Monday. He also criticised the UP Government for back stabbing the VHP on the issue by first giving its approval for the yatra and then banning it.
Meanwhile, chief priest of the makeshift temple in Ayodhya, Acharya Satendra Das, accused the VHP of going against established Hindu traditions while deciding the timing of its yatra. “lord Rama had halted his yatra during the period of ‘chaturmaas’ when he was looking for Sita in the jungles as taking any a yatra during this period is against Hindu traditions,” he said.