NEW DELHI, 14 October 2003 — Hindu fundamentalist leaders went into hiding yesterday after Indian authorities arrested more than 10,000 activists and sealed off the flashpoint northern town of Ayodhya, where hard-liners razed a mosque 11-years ago.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said its senior leaders would likely attempt to enter the town in Uttar Pradesh state in time for Friday’s planned rally, however. Activists will try to enter Ayodhya in small groups and breach the tight security cordon to hold their program, in which some 100,000 Hindus were expected to participate.
Arrested Hindu activists were lodged in temporary jails set up in school compounds and bus depots. Some 50 activists from Nepal were among those arrested.
Hindu fundamentalists demolished the 15th century Babri Mosque on Dec. 6, 1992 in Ayodhya, claiming it was located on the site where their deity Ram was born.
The demolition triggered countrywide Hindu-Muslim riots in which thousands were killed. In an attempt to prevent the rally, buses and trains going to Ayodhya and its twin town of Faizabad were either re-routed or terminated service in Lucknow, the northern state’s capital.
Indian police and paramilitary forces allowed people to enter Faizabad district only after background checks were carried out. Residents of the city are required to carry passes. Many stocked up on essential goods or chose to leave the town to avoid any backlash from the Hindu rally. The state government is trying to prevent the rally despite the VHP’s promise it would be peaceful, and despite Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee’s recommendation that the fundamentalist group’s assurance must be trusted.
Indian Communists See Red Over Court Ban on Rallies
The Marxist rulers of India’s West Bengal state yesterday challenged a ban on rush-hour street rallies imposed by a lower court, arguing the verdict was a slap in the face of democracy. The administration challenged the Sept. 29 verdict that banned all rallies, processions and demonstrations between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays in provincial capital Calcutta.
The state administration in its appeal to the provincial high court said several political parties and organizations were demanding permission to stage rallies and processions to press their various demands.
State Marxist Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee in an overnight statement said his administration will fight the lower court verdict by appealing for a review of the ban.
“We are aware of the rights of political parties to hold rallies and meetings and see to it that the state would get justice tomorrow,” the chief minister said.
