VHP defies security crackdown, plans rituals for failed Ayodhya yatra

Lucknow: A defiant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said it will perform rituals today to mark the end of a controversial yatra that had failed to take off from Ayodhya on August 25, despite a severe crackdown by the Uttar Pradesh government in the aftermath of communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar.

A day after the Centre asked the UP government to tighten security across the state, over a dozen VHP activists have been arrested and two districts near Ayodhya have been sealed to prevent VHP activists from gathering there. Some 1700 police and paramilitary forces are guarding the districts.

Over 60 religious leaders had been arrested on Thursday, along with top VHP leaders like Swami Chinmayananda and Ram Vas Vedanti. Senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, who has close links with the VHP, has also been confined to his house in Faizabad adjoining Ayodhya.

The banned 84 kos Yatra was to end with prayers at Basti district 20 km away from Ayodhya, where the VHP is campaigning for a Ram temple at the site where the 16th century Babri mosque was razed by Hindu activists in December 1992.

The yatra was seen as the VHP's attempt to bring the Ram temple back on the agenda ahead of polls due in May.

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The Akhilesh Yadav government, under attack for failing to prevent the communal clashes at Muzaffarnagar which killed at least 40 people in five days, is taking no chances. The home ministry has reportedly warned the government of the communally charged atmosphere in parts of the state after the violence. The government had earlier stopped all political visits to the riot-hit areas.

The 300-km VHP yatra had planned to circle six Uttar Pradesh districts around Ayodhya - Faizabad, Barabanki, Bahraich, Basti, Gonda and Ambedkar Nagar - with a sizeable Muslim population, a crucial vote bank for the ruling Samajwadi Party.

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In its a massive crackdown on the yatra last month, the state government had deployed 8000 cops and arrested more than 2000 people, including top VHP leader Praveen Togadia, and detained its chief Ashok Singhal at the Lucknow airport.