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.
Massive protests being held by VHP workers in Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Police use water canons as protesters pelt stones
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
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
VHP leader Praveen Togadia, ex-BJP MP Ram Vedanti sent to 14-day custody
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.
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
More than 600 people have been arrested till now over the Yatra.
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
VHP leader Ashok Singhal refuses to leave the Lucknow airport. If he does not go back, he will be formally arrested, says police.
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
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.
"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.
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.
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.
Have promulgated restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC ahead of VHP yatra: Ayodhya District MagistrateVipin 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.
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
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".
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.
VHP president Ashok Singhal leaves for Ayodhya from Delhi
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
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
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.
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.
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.