VHP pulls up SP, says ban on 'peaceful' yatras will have a negative impact

UP has banned the yatra to Ayodhya

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday questioned the Uttar Pradesh Government's decision to ban the religious procession to Ayodhya, and warned that stopping a peaceful yatra by sadhus and karsewaks would have a negative impact in the future.

"This is very shocking that the UP Government is trying to ban a procession. The government can put police but the sadhus who wish to be a part of this procession will join from various places. Let Government do their job and saint will do there's. Saint will do the yatra peacefully," VHP spokesperson Prakash Sharma said.

"The whole world is watching this and I don't know whether Mulayam Singh is preparing to apologise again for this. He had already apologized in 1990 for the attacks on sadhus and karsewaks. You send sadhus to jail or attack them or ban a procession and then apologize. This trend cannot go on and will have a negative impact in the future," he added.

Earlier, Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary on August 22 asserted that the 2002 Gujarat communal violence cannot be repeated in Uttar Pradesh and added that stern action will be taken against all those who conspire against raising communal tensions in the state.

"We won't let Uttar Pradesh to become Gujarat because there his brotherhood and communal harmony here and this will ensure that Gujarat is not repeated in Uttar Pradesh. SP won't allow anything which will raise communal tensions in the state. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has made this clear that anything that is against the law will not be tolerated. We will take strict actions all who conspires against raising communal tensions," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh Government on August 20 banned the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) from holding a religious procession to Ayodhya, as a preemptive measure against communal flare-up.

According to reports, devotees from several parts of the country were expected to arrive in large numbers at Ayodhya, from August 25 to September 13, as part of VHP's proposed yatra of seers and saints, called the '84 Kosi Parikrama'.

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.

The U P Government has said the administration of all six districts have advised against allowing the yatra.