Ayodhya: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday cracked down on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Ayodhya Yatra detaining its top leaders and as many as 450 activists. Meanwhile, senior VHP leader Pravin Togadia has been sent to 14 days judicial custody. VHP leader Ramvilas Vedanti was the first one to be arrested at a temple near Ayodhya.
The authorities had also imposed Section 144 not only in Faizabad but also in five neighbouring districts. There was barricading at every road leading to Saryu river. The administration said they were prepared for the worst.
Faizabad DM Vipin Kumar said, "We were successful in stopping the yatra. We have arrested over 448 activists and top leaders of VHP."
There were reports of minor confrontations as police tried to enforce the prohibitory orders clamped in the city and the ban on the yatra. The holy city of Ayodhya was turned into a fortress and around 8,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident and prevent any VHP karsevak from entering the temple town.
Prominent among those arrested by the state police include Savitri Bai Phule, VHP's provincial coordinator Acharya Kushmuni and Mahant Santosh Das alias Sathu Baba, a VHP office bearer in Varanasi while prominent VHP leader Mahant Ram Saran Das was held at Ram Sanehi Ghat in Ayodhya.
In Amethi, peethdheshwar of Sagra Ashram Abhay Chaitanya Mauni Mahraj was also put under house arrest as a precautionary measure.
A team led by the Faizabad DM and SSP had on Saturday carried out searches at VHP's local headquarter Karsewak Puram, Mani Ram Chawni, the temple of VHP leader and president of Ram Janam Bhumi Trust, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and about half a dozen suspected hideouts of VHP's activists in and around Ayodhya.
Temporary jails were set up by the government in districts including Faizabad (10), Barabanki,(12), Bahraich (16), Basti (2), Gonda (3) and Ambedkarnagar (5), which lie in the yatra route.
The Samajwadi Party government of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had earlier denied permission for the yatra over a possible communal flareup and came under attack from the BJP which raised the issue in Parliament.
Allahabad High Court too dismissed a PIL seeking to list the ban on the yatra.
When asked if the yatra was the flop show, Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Committee Chairman Mahant Nritya Gopaldas said, "No one can stop people's sentiments. Those who will be doing the parikrama yatra have reached. They are already doing the parikrama yatra and will continue to do that."
The yatra was under attack from the Opposition with leaders saying it was a politcal yatra rather than a religious one. Congress leader Rashid Alvi said this is all a political game plan and has nothing to do with religion. "The Congress has nothing to do with this. The BJP and VHP have the same ideologies and the whole country knows that. They always politicise matters before elections. The Muslims of the nation do not care about whether the yatra should happen or not. If the UP government thinks it is alright then they should take responsibility accordingly. To malign yatra is not the right approach," he said.
Samjawadi Party leader Naresh Aggarwal said, "The BJP has raised the temple issue many times. They have been rejected by the people in every election. If they are thinking that this will become an issue then they are wrong. It won't become an issue."
Meanwhile, the BJP accused SP of playing politics over the issue. "People keep going on yatras but the Samajwadi Party is playing politics over this yatra," BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Even is the yatra failed, it was a win-win situation for both Sangh and the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The SP banned the yatra and became heroes in the eyes of the minority and the VHP look like the martyrs in the eyes of the Hindu middle class.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
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