LUCKNOW, 16 October 2003 — Indian police yesterday swooped on a radical Hindu leader spearheading a drive to gather thousands of followers in Ayodhya as part of a controversial campaign to build a temple over a razed mosque.

Giriraj Kishore, head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), was arrested with two senior party colleagues in the northern city of Lucknow as he was on his way to Ayodhya after addressing nearly 1,000 VHP workers, police said.

Police have already rounded up some 18,000 Hindu activists in Uttar Pradesh state this week in a bid to foil the VHP plan to stage a Resolution Day demonstration in Ayodhya tomorrow for the construction of the temple.

Organizers claim more than 200,000 Hindus from all over India are on their way to Ayodhya, about 126 kilometers from the Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow, for the protest.

“Each one of you knows your duty and nothing should deter you from proceeding to Ayodhya to fulfill that duty,” Kishore told his followers before being arrested.

Inspector General of Police Brij Lal, Uttar Pradesh state’s top law officer, confirmed the arrest and said the authorities would not tolerate “any untoward incidents.”

“We have detained 18,000 Hindu activists from all over Uttar Pradesh in the past week. This includes local people as well as Hindu activists traveling to Uttar Pradesh from other parts of India,” Lal said.

Most of those arrested were pulled out of trains taking them to Ayodhya.

Sharad Sharma, a local VHP spokesman in Ayodhya, told AFP by phone that he too had been arrested. But he vowed the rally would go ahead as planned.

“The program will go on as per schedule. Our people are there in Ayodhya and many more will enter the city soon,” Sharma said.

The VHP is spearheading a campaign to build a temple on the ruins of the Babri mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992.

The demolition of the 16th century mosque sparked nationwide riots in which about 2,000 people were killed.

Radical Hindu groups claim that the mosque was erected by Mohgul emperor Babur after destroying a temple which marked the birthplace of Ram.

Their claims have been bolstered by a recent archaeological report which said the remains of a temple were found below the razed mosque.

The dispute over the religious site is now in the hands of the courts, which had ordered the excavations.

Last month, the VHP had said it would intensify its campaign to construct a temple at Ayodhya with mass rallies across the country.

However, the provincial chief of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is known to be staunchly secular, has vowed to maintain the “status quo” until the court gives its ruling in the matter.

The VHP-sponsored program has the potential to embarrass Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist BJP party also supports the temple campaign. The VHP has close links to the BJP and some of its leaders have said they would participate in tomorrow’s function.