NEW DELHI, 2 September 2004 — Leader of the opposition and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was detained yesterday in Bangalore as he led a protest demanding the dropping of charges against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati who is in judicial custody.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a weeklong campaign to press the authorities to drop charges against Bharati.
Advani was taken into preventive custody along with BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP Karnataka unit president Ananth Kumar and opposition leader in the state assembly B.S. Yediyurappa. They were released later.
Advani and 400 supporters of BJP gave themselves up after a two-hour protest in the heart of India’s hi-tech hub city of Bangalore.
Uma Bharati, resigned as leader of the central state of Madhya Pradesh on Aug. 23 as she faced arrest over a 10-year-old riot case in southern Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital.
“We will continue this peaceful agitation in the name of truth and justice for the next seven days,” Advani told the rally. All the BJP supporters including Advani were released later in the day. Bharati, who is in custody, faces charges for defying a curfew in 1994 and attempting to hoist the Indian flag on a prayer ground in Karnataka disputed between Hindus and Muslims, setting off violence. Five people died when police fired to disperse the mob.
The Karnataka government in a U-turn said it would not pursue charges against Bharati but a petition has already been filed by the state prosecutor’s office.
A Karnataka court yesterday deferred a scheduled hearing until Saturday after the state prosecutor sought more time to give his opinion on the case. The BJP’s Karnataka president Anant Kumar said the party would continue protests until all charges are withdrawn against Bharati.
