VHP plans to put pressure on BJP for Ram temple

We are confident that [Uttar Pradesh CM] Yogi (Adityanath) and [Prime minister Narendra] Modi will fulfil the desire of Hindus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be heading for another trouble with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) announcing a sankalp (resolution) programme to drum up support for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The events will be held at 5,000 places across the country on Ram Navami (April 5) to build the case for a Ram temple, followed by a conference of Hindu seers in Haridwar in June.

“We are confident that Yogi (Adityanath) and Modi will fulfil the desire of Hindus,” VHP working president Praveen Togadia told reporters here.

The firebrand leader reminded the BJP of a resolution it passed in the Palampur conclave of the party in 1987, wherein it suggested construction of a Ram temple through law by Parliament. “The BJP stands by that resolution even today. The party also promised in its Uttar Pradesh manifesto that it will explore a solution to the dispute through constitutional method,” Togadia said. The construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is a communally sensitive issue, since the site is also claimed by Muslims for the Babri Masjid.

The Babri mosque was demolished by workers and supporters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1992.

Rioting prison inmates in the Gurdaspur cen tral jail fought pitched battles with security forces till wee hours of Saturday, but were their attempts were thwarted by heavy tear gas shelling.

Punjab Police’s elite SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics commandos, armed police as well as police personnel from neighbouring Amritsar Pathankot and Tarn Taran dis tricts were rushed to the Gurdas pur jail to control the violence.

Police sources said on Satur day the situation has been brought under control and a high-level probe is being insti tuted to find what went wrong in the jail.

The district police have booked 30 inmates for attempt to murder and various other char ges. The jail authorities have also shifted 21 inmates, identi fied as troublemakers, to other prisons in the state.