June 1998

Saffron Watch
 

Union Home Minister, L.K.Advani in his farewell speech to party workers as outgoing party president pointedly referred to Ayodhya, Kashmir and swadeshi as the issues that had gained the party support and popularity.

The official, Liberhan Commission probing the conspiracy aspect of the demolition of the Babri Masjid today expressed its dismay over the "inaction" of the central and UP governments in failing to vacate the stay order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on the summons issued to L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharati, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore and Vinay Katiar in 1994. The central government has also so far failed to grant an extension to the commission beyond June 30, 1998

India explodes three nuclear devices and over the next few days, another two.

The BJP-led coalition is in the process of formulating a new education policy "in tune with changing times." A panel of experts is likely to be set up to review the current one introduced in 1986, union minister for education, Murli Manohar Joshi announced.

Shiv Sainiks barged into a church at Ambernath and without provocation attacked the priest, Father Ocatvio Anthony Nevis with iron bars, broke an amplifier and speakers before hurling crackers at the congregation.

The special issue of the RSS’ weekly Organiser dated May 17, 1998, ironically, celebrated Pokharan 1974, and were widely distributed to news-vendors the very same day that India exploded three nuclear devices on May 12 in a secret operation that stunned the world.

The objective of the RSS is to create an ideological society not to grab power at the centre said RSS joint secretary K.S. Sudershan. The RSS was striving for a transformation of society by inculcating patriotism in the people.

The Maharashtra unit of the BJP vows to collect one lakh signatures, 1000 of them in blood in support of India’s nuclear tests.

VHP president, Ashok Singhal said that the sadhus of the country had mooted the idea of setting up a Shakti Peetha — symbolising the Mother Goddess Shakti at Pokharan, the site of the nuclear tests. Each year once the monument was built, Singhal said, the gaurav divas (day of national pride) would be marked by organising melas and other celebrations.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madanlal Khurana stated that now that India was a nuclear power it could and should take on Pakistan anywhere and at any time.

Home Minister L.K.Advani announced the launching of an aggressive "hot pursuit" policy in Jammu and Kashmir not even ruling out the possibility of the Indian armed forces storming the LOC.

The working president of the VHP, Ashok Singhal, while demanding an immediate ban on religious conversions in the country also announced that the VHP would train 10,000 Hindu missionaries known as Ajivan Hindu Hit Chintak to counter "the nefarious designs of both Christian and Islamic missionaries operating in different parts of the country including south Bihar.

Saffron activists led a series of violent attacks against restaurants, offices and showrooms belonging to US multi-nationals in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat ruled by the BJP.

All Bangladeshi nationals living in Delhi will be issued with identity cards so that the government can monitor any growth in their number, home minister L.K. Advani announced.

The ABVP, the BJP’s youth wing announced and successfully observed a boycott of Pepsi and Coca Cola aerated drinks in three major colleges in the capital to protest US sanctions.

The Ram temple would be built at Ayodhya and if the court judgement ruled against this, the centre would enact legislation to honour its commitment to the temple, BJP spokesperson, K.L. Sharma said to the press at the official briefing today.