Ayodhya:
As a defiant VHP prepares to launch its yatra today, seen to be an attempt to revive its demand for a Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, a divide seems to have emerged among the Hindu saints associated with the movement.
Acharya Satyendra, the priest of the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya where the 16th century Babri mosque was razed by Hindu activists in 1992, slammed the VHP's yatra, calling it an attempt to polarise votes and whip up a nationwide campaign to garner support for the BJP ahead of the 2014 polls.
The VHP and the BJP are both affiliates in what is called the Sangh Parivar, mentored by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Acharya Satyendra told NDTV he and many other religious leaders are not supporting the VHP's yatra.
"The yatra is political, the VHP is using the saints for vested interests," said Acharya Satyendra in Ayodhya, asserting that "no responsible priest" would like to be associated with the VHP. He added that this is not the right time for the yatra.
The Ayodhya priest also slammed the VHP for "not revealing" what happened in its meeting with the state's ruling Samajwadi Party. The VHP had met SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to seek administrative clearance for its yatra, called the "chaurasi kos parikrama".
Hundreds of VHP leaders have been detained or arrested from various towns in UP ahead of the planned 300-km-long parikrama around Ayodhya banned by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The state administration has cut off all access to the religious ghats where VHP leaders have planned prayers and chants for its yatra. All of Ayodhya and its twin town Faizabad are out of bounds for the VHP.
The VHP got support yesterday from the BJP, which had used the Ram temple issue to catapult itself to power in the 1990s. Senior leader Sushma Swaraj said, "There is no tension due to yatra but due to all kinds of statements being made. If people avoid making comments, the yatra will be finished peacefully."
The party has slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for being "over-prepared" for a procession that, it claims, is to be performed by "just 250 saints".
The VHP, however, has said about 5000 "seers and saints" from across the country will participate in the yatra and that "we are ready to be arrested."