May  2003 
Year 9    No.87

Cover Story

The VHP–sponsored satyagraha to demand the undisputed land in Ayodhya concluded on Wednesday. On the last day, the outfit said the recent Supreme Court verdict on the issue had closed the judicial option. Now, unless Parliament enacts legislation in the next session to hand over all the acquired land to Hindus, the country might witness a repetition of the anarchical conditions of December 6, 1992 when the Babri Masjid was destroyed, senior VHP leader Praveen Togadia warned.

The VHP is now gearing up to launch the second phase of its countrywide agitation along with the RSS and other Hindu organisations.

"In the coming days, each and every village in the country will be turned into an Ayodhya. Once the campaign starts, I cannot say where it will head. People in the villages will then turn their attention towards every mosque that was built after destroying some temple. I do not know what will happen then," Togadia said.

Calling upon both the BJP and the Congress to clarify their stand on the issue of enacting legislation on the issue, he said several leaders from both parties felt strongly on the matter. The legislation should be enacted during the monsoon session, he said.

Togadia on Wednesday virtually admitted that the VHP was involved in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the communal riots in Gujarat. "We had demolished the Babri Masjid. It was our people who were out on the roads in Gujarat last year. But in the satyagraha we maintained peace," he said. 

(http:// www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/030403/detNAT13.shtml)