VHP prepares for 2019 LS polls, demands scrapping of minority commission

They also have asked scrapping ministry of minority affairs and glorifies 'gau rakshaks'

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Sangh Parivar affiliate, had played a key role in giving impetus to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that led to much bloodshed across the country, but the campaign also helped Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) electorally.

Two decades later, as the Narendra Modi-led BJP prepares for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and incidents of lynching of Muslim men and boys become more frequent, the VHP is preparing to bring the cauldron of communal tensions to the boil.

At the two-day meeting of its central governing council in Vadtal, Gujarat, on June 24 and 25, the VHP passed a resolution “demanding immediate scrapping of both the Minority Commission and the ministry of minority affairs”. It asked the Narendra Modi government to enact a law to facilitate early construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The VHP condemned the conspiracy to malign ‘gau rakshaks’, or cow vigilantes. It said these cow vigilantes were “worthy of respect”. It accused the police of filing false cases against cow vigilantes, who were involved in a “pious mission”. The resolution didn't refer to the several incidents of the so called cow vigilantes having killed innocent men, both Muslims and Dalits, in recent months.

In its resolution, the VHP said the “very idea” of a Minority Commission and Minority Affairs Ministry leads to a “separatist mindset”. It claimed, despite enormous  official data that is evidence to the contrary, how Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists were being persecuted at the hands of Muslims and Christians in India.

It expressed concern at Goods and Services Tax being imposed on ‘prasad’ of Tirupati temple and other big temples. It claimed to have written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to end taxes on material related to worship of Hindu gods and goddesses, like agarbatties, dhoop, sculptures, etc.