This Article is From Aug 26, 2013

VHP's Ayodhya Yatra: Hundreds arrested in Uttar Pradesh

Top leaders of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP have been arrested this morning in Uttar Pradesh for insisting that they will defy a ban on an 19-day yatra or tour of the state, meant to culminate in Ayodhya with a demand for the construction of a Ram Mandir or temple for Lord Ram.
Aug 26, 2013 12:37 (IST)
Massive protests being held by VHP workers in Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Police use water canons as protesters pelt stones


Aug 26, 2013 00:15 (IST)
Aug 26, 2013 00:14 (IST)
Opposing VHP's controversial yatra from Ayodhya, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United says no politics should be played in places of worship.

"There should no politics in places of worship," JD(U) Bihar's unit  president Vashistha Narayan Singh
Aug 25, 2013 17:50 (IST)
District Magistrate of Faizabad says in press conference:

  • Arrests of prominent leaders helped
  • Tomorrow, there will be no restrictions for the public in Ayodhya and Faizabad
Aug 25, 2013 17:48 (IST)
VHP leader Praveen Togadia, ex-BJP MP Ram Vedanti sent to 14-day custody
Aug 25, 2013 15:30 (IST)
VHP and Bajrang Dal to protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi at noon tomorrow against the arrest of sants and VHP leaders in Uttar Pradesh.
Aug 25, 2013 14:28 (IST)
Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on law and order situation:

  • Real saints maintained the peace, for that we thank them
  • People want development
  • People want love and good relationship
  • We want to thank the common people
  • Patience is required
  • That is not the arresting, that is just they have been taken respectfully
  • They have been stopped to do any unconstitutional act, any communal act


Aug 25, 2013 14:15 (IST)
VHP yatra: Ayodhya tension defused but Ashok Singhal refuses to leave Lucknow
The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh managed to contain a potentially volatile situation in Ayodhya today with massive security deployment to prevent the Vishwa Hindu Parishad from launching a controversial yatra.
Aug 25, 2013 13:09 (IST)


More than 600 people have been arrested till now over the Yatra.
Aug 25, 2013 11:29 (IST)
CPI leader AB Bardhan says:

  • It is neither a conspiracy nor a political stunt
  • They think that by this they can move forward in election
  • The people of this country is secular
  • So I don't think so with this kind of act BJP are going to go very far

Aug 25, 2013 11:03 (IST)


VHP leader Ashok Singhal refuses to leave the Lucknow airport. If he does not go back, he will be formally arrested, says police.
Aug 25, 2013 10:52 (IST)
VHP has no interest in Parikrama, they are interested in 2014 Elections, says Congress's Rashid Alvi
  • Whenever elections are to happen then VHP and BJP remember of the Ram temple
  • They have no interest in Parikrama, they are interested in 2014 Elections
  • There is no second thought that it is totally political
  • And why will the Muslim have problem with the Yatra
  • I will not like to make any comments as I don't want to make things political
  • Hindu and Muslims have nothing to do with it
Aug 25, 2013 10:28 (IST)


Senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal was detained shortly after he landed at the Lucknow airport and sent back to Delhi. He had planned to drive down to Ayodhya, around 150 km away, for the "Chaurasi Kos Parikrama" - VHP's religious yatra that has been banned by the UP government.
Aug 25, 2013 10:22 (IST)
"This is not a religious yatra, it is a political yatra," said Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi. She accused the VHP of trying to strengthen its political front by whipping up passions over its demand for a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Aug 25, 2013 10:03 (IST)


VHP senior leader Praveen Togadia arrested as he tries to defy prohibitory orders to begin prayers at the banks of river Saryu in Ayodhya, ahead of the proposed chaurasi kos yatra.
Aug 25, 2013 09:35 (IST)

 

Some 40 locals gather at a popular religious camp in Ayodhya, the Mani Ram Das Chhavni, as a strong police contingent keeps vigil. Reports suggest the head of the makeshift Ayodhya temple or Mandir Nyas Samiti, Nrityagopal Das, may try to lead a group from there.


Aug 25, 2013 09:24 (IST)
VHP yatra: Ayodhya turns into fortress, former BJP MP among 350 arrested
Despite a ban by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP plans to begin its 300-km-long parikrama or religious procession around Ayodhya at 9:30 this morning, with a puja on the ghats of the Saryu river in the town.
Aug 25, 2013 09:17 (IST)
Have promulgated restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC ahead of VHP yatra: Ayodhya District Magistrate

Vipin Kumar Dwivedi, the District Magistrate of Ayodhya, said that he was confident that the police would be able to prevent any untoward incident during the VHP yatra.

Aug 25, 2013 09:13 (IST)
VHP yatra: Hindu religious leaders divided, Ayodhya priest slams VHP
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.
Aug 25, 2013 09:07 (IST)
Arun Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) says:

  • All the arrangement are done to stop the Yatra  
  • Ram Chandra Yadav has been arrested in Lucknow
  • Commissioner is there and personally supervising the arrangement
  • We will not let this Parikrama happen
  • Anyone who will go to Faizabad we will arrest them
  • We have arrested 488 people
Aug 25, 2013 09:05 (IST)
Will make arrests if people come in large numbers during VHP yatra: Faizabad Police
Faizabad IG Subhash Chandra said that the police will not intervene as long as things stayed "traditional".

Aug 25, 2013 09:04 (IST)
VHP's yatra political, not religious: Ayodhya's top monk
 Acharya Satyendra, the priest of Ram Mandir, has questioned the motives of the VHP yatra. Speaking to NDTV, he said that it was not the right time to hold the the '84-kosi' yatra and that it was more political than religious.
Aug 25, 2013 08:58 (IST)
VHP president Ashok Singhal leaves for Ayodhya from Delhi
Aug 25, 2013 08:54 (IST)
BJP's Kalraj Mishra on VHP yatra:

  • I appeal to all parties and the people that those who believe in democracy should raise a voice against this
  • This government is doing politics as this yatra is a part of our Sanskriti and culture
Aug 25, 2013 08:28 (IST)
Acharya Satyendra, the priest of the makeshift Ram Mandir at the disputed temple-mosque site, says the yatra is "political" and "driven by vested interests"

Here's more on what he told NDTV:
  • This is not the right time for the yatra
  • This yatra is political
  • The VHP has used sadhus for their political interests
  • No responsible sadhu ever associates himself with the VHP
Aug 25, 2013 08:22 (IST)
More than 350 people headed for the yatra have been arrested from various towns in UP. This morning, former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti, who had threatened to lead the yatra despite the ban, was arrested from the banks of Saryu river.
Aug 25, 2013 08:20 (IST)
Fearing a showdown, the UP administration has increased security in and around Ayodhya. Over 6,000 policemen have been deployed just in Ayodhya. Access to ghats has been cut off. All of Ayodhya and its twin town Faizabad are out of bounds for the VHP.




Aug 25, 2013 08:10 (IST)

Despite a ban by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP plans to begin its 300-km-long parikrama or religious procession around Ayodhya at 9:30 this morning, with a puja on the ghats of the Saryu river in the town.

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