September 27, 2004

RSS men held for attacking missionaries

(The Times of India)
RSS men held for attacking missionaries
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2004 07:00:01 AM ]
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kozhikode police have detained 14 RSS-BJP sympathisers in connection with the attack on missionaries of charity in a Mampizhakad tribal colony on Saturday. Nine were injured.

The members of "Sneh Bhavan", Mother Teresa's mission had gone to supply food card and medicine in the colony when an armed gang attacked them on the charge of "converting gullible tribals". The Bhavan superior said that they had not converted anyone nor it was their intention.

Meanwhile, BJP and RSS leaders have denied they have any link in the attack.

September 09, 2004

VHP to set up Security Committees

[The Times of India - September 9, 2004 ]


VHP to set up Security Committees

PTI[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 09, 2004 05:53:19 PM ]

VAIKOM (Kerala): Viswa Hindu Parishad would constitute "security committees" for protecting the interests of the Hindu community, which it claimed, was becoming a minority in the country, its national secretary Y Raghavalu said on Thursday.

Talking to reporters here, Raghavalu cited the religion census, which showed a decline in Hindu population in last ten years and said at present there were about 50,000 security committees in the country.

The committees would be doubled by 2007, he said adding that the committees would draw the attention of the public on the dangerousness of population increase, he said.

He demanded the Centre to implemet a Common Civil Code, ban on conversion and infiltration.

September 06, 2004

VHP threatens to demolish Afzal Khan's tomb in Satara : HindustanTimes.com

VHP threatens to demolish Afzal Khan's tomb in Satara : HindustanTimes.com

Press Trust of India
Pune, September 5

VHP on Sunday threatened that it would "demolish" Afzal memorial at Pratapgarh Fort in Satara district on September 12, if Maharashtra Government failed to remove it.

"We had given an ultimatum to the state Government that if it did not demolish the objectionable construction then the job would be done by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists", VHP International general secretary Praveen Togadia told reporters at Pune.

"Pratapgarh fort was a heritage that belonged to Chhatrapati Shivaji and the unlawful construction at the tomb of a traitor was nothing but an insult to every nationalist," the VHP leader said.

Togadia also attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his delayed pronouncement that Veer Savarkar was a freedom fighter.

September 01, 2004

VHP now adopts Lord Krishna : Krishna 'raths' coming soon to your nearest city

(The Times of India - September 1, 2004)
VHP now adopts Lord Krishna
SRAWAN SHUKLA

LUCKNOW: In a bid to keep the temple issue alive and take the Hindutva to tribal and backward areas, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will hold 'road shows' by organising 'rath yatras' across the country, particularly in trouble-torn northeast.

About two-dozen modern Ram-Krishna 'raths', equipped with latest audio-video gizmos, are being readied to roll out by October-end in Vansthali (tribal) and backward areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states.

The saffron-hued Ram-Krishna ' raths ' would carry verses from ' Ramayana ' and ' Mahabharat ' and depict different aspects of Ram and Krishna's lives to propagate Hindutva, particularly in tribal areas.

For the first time the VHP would also use Krishna for its Hindutva plank. All ' raths ' will also carry cut-outs of Krishna and sketches from ' Mahabharat ', exhorting tribals to fight another battle for saving their cultural heritage.

With Janmashtami round the corner, the VHP is all set to use the occasion for setting the tone for the Ram-Krishna Rath Yatra across the country. A camp is underway in Karsewakpuram in Ayodhya to impart training to VHP leaders and workers who would accompany the ' rath '.

The VHP has also placed orders for printing pamphlets and booklets depicting Ram and Krishna as role models for every Hindu. Special films on both the Hindu gods would be shown on big screens erected on every ' rath '.

The VHP discreetly admits that their main aim is to reach out to people in those areas which were not touched earlier. "Next two years are crucial to the VHP as we are in the process of increasing our cadre and support base to strengthen the organisation. Naturally, our plan is to take the organisation to areas which were never penetrated before," confided a senior VHP leader to TOI.

Besides the Ram-Krishna ' katha yatra ', the VHP is also concentrating on opening more ' ekal vidhyalayas ' in tribal and backwards areas. 'Catch them young' seems to be the new VHP slogan. The organisation has set up a separate wing, headed by VHP leader Sita Ram Agarwal, to use primary education as a tool to administer the religious dose at a tender age.

"If 'madarsas' can do it then what's the harm in teaching Hindu religion to youngsters at the primary level in our school," says the senior leader.

The VHP has about 21,000 ' ekal vidyalayas ' in the country. Managed by Bharat Shiksha Parishad, it has planned to open 25,000 more such schools to make Hindutva a way of life.