Stopping VHP yatra attack on rights of Hindus: BJP

'The ban by the SP government on the 84 Kosi Ayodhya Parikrama, which was to follow the traditional route, is an attack on the rights of Hindus. The yatra was not going to start from Ayodhya but from Basti,' BJP MP Yogi Adityanath said

BJP today said stopping VHP's Ayodhya yatra was an attack on the rights of Hindus and alleged that the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh took this step under pressure from Muslim ministers and moulvis.

'The ban by the SP government on the 84 Kosi Ayodhya Parikrama, which was to follow the traditional route, is an attack on the rights of Hindus. The yatra was not going to start from Ayodhya but from Basti,' BJP MP Yogi Adityanath told reporters here.

He dismissed arguments by the SP leaders that the yatra violates the stay order of the Supreme Court on the Allahabad High Court decision trifurcating the disputed Ram Janambhoomi- Babri Masjid land.

'The UP government has taken this decision to ban the yatra under a threat from a minister of the government...When Muslim moulvis put pressure on the government it bends. Around 3,000 saints and Ram devotees have been detained in an unfair manner. The saints should be allowed to complete their yatra,' Adityanath said.

'The SP government is working with a Jehadi mindset. It had earlier tried to take back cases against 21 terrorists... Shariat is being given primacy over the Constitution in the state,' he alleged.

Stating that the yatra has the full support of BJP, the MP from Gorakhpur said he may also participate in it.

BJP said that the meeting between VHP leaders and the UP government was not for any match-fixing but to apprise it about the route and other details.

'There were no ulterior intentions behind the meeting with the UP government. Upto 30 riots have taken place in UP under SP rule. The meeting with the government was to prevent such occurrence. The government has backed out after initially agreeing to the yatra,' he claimed.

Adityanath alleged that it was SP and BSP which were working at the behest of Congress. 'When the CBI whip is unleashed by Congress, SP and BSP act like lions in a circus,' he said.