File photo of the VHP yatra
Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is a heavily fortified town as it gears up for its latest political challenge.
In four days from now, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or the VHP plans to set off on a 300-km yatra around Ayodhya to revive its demand for a Ram temple, despite the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh having banned the yatra. This has brought the ruling Samajwadi Party in political confrontation with the VHP and other affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, one of which is the BJP.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said yesterday, "By banning it, they have brought the issue on the centerstage, which the Uttar Pradesh government could have well avoided."
On Tuesday, the UP government said it was rejecting the VHP's request for permission for the yatra, called the 84 Kos Parikrama, only some time after senior Samajwadi Party minister Azam Khan criticised his party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's meeting with VHP leaders for two hours of talks at the weekend.
A day later, the Samajwadi Party government announced a big package for minorities in Uttar Pradesh which includes 20 per cent of allocations for minorities in 85 welfare schemes of the state, seen by many as an attempt at damage limitation. The Samajwadi Party counts the 18 per cent Muslim voters in UP as a primary vote base.
Karsewakpuram, the hub of big religious functions in Ayodhya, is deserted. There is no activity to suggest that a big yatra of seers and saints will begin here on Sunday. But the rhetoric is building. Satendra Das, a senior VHP functionary, says, "The government may have banned this yatra but we will continue. We will start the first leg on the 25th morning."
The VHP plans to start from Ayodhya and travel through six districts - Basti, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Barabanki, Bahraich and Gonda - before returning to Ayodhya on September 13.
It has said that it will use the yatra to raise the demand or the construction of the Ram temple at the disputed Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri-Masjid site in Ayodhya, seen as part of an RSS plan to revive the Hindutva agenda for general elections of 2014. The Ram temple issue has always had a polarising effect in UP politics.
Hashim Ansari, the plaintiff in the Babri Masjid land ownership dispute, says, "If this parikrama is religious, we support it. But if it is political then we will not allow it to happen."
The UP government says the administration of all six districts have advised against allowing the yatra.