BHOPAL, 5 September 2004 — A history of sorts was made in Jabalpur town when Congressmen and Hindu fundamentalist Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) volunteers together sang “Vande Matram” and unfurled the national flag at the Mahakoshal Pranth office — Keshav Kutir — of the RSS.
The Jabalpur Congress had earlier announced that it would hoist the national flag at the RSS office on Thursday as a mark of protest against the Sangh Parivar’s and Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempts to drag the national flag in the 1994 Hubli rioting incident. However, the RSS instead of adopting a path of confrontation opted to lend a helping hand to the Congressmen in hoisting the national flag.
The police, the press and the district administration, which were anticipating trouble in the wake of the Congress march to the RSS office, were surprised to see the RSS volunteers welcoming the protesters with folded hands and glasses of drinking water. The scene was the same in the evening when Congress Sewa Dal members brought down the flag. They were greeted and offered tea by the RSS.
Meanwhile, according to reports from Hubli in Karnataka the judicial magistrate yesterday posted for Sept. 6 his orders on the plea for withdrawal of cases against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati.
Five persons filed separate applications in the magistrate’s court praying that the cases against Bharati should not be allowed to be withdrawn. Bharati, who is in judicial custody till Sept. 7, had resigned as Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Aug. 23 after a Karnataka court issued non-bailable warrants against her in a case dating back to 1994.
