Hindu Mahasabha, seers oppose VHP yatra
Ashish Tripathi, TNN | Aug 24, 2013, 11.28 PM IST
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Narendra Modi|Azam Khan|Akhilesh Yadav
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LUCKNOW:
Voices of criticism from Hindu organisations and seers against the
VHP's proposed 84-kosi yatra have started becoming louder.
UP president of the Mahasabha, Kashinath said that VHP and RSS start activities to polarize Hindu votes in favour of the BJP whenever elections are round the corner but thereafter puts Hindutava on the back burner. Similarly, he said, they are using the Yatra for political gains and would throw away seers once their purpose was solved. "If VHP is really cares about Hindus, it must tell people what it has done for other places of Hindu worship," he said. Mahasabha state coordinator Rita Rai said that they will support VHP'sYatra if it is organized after elections. She also accused BJP leaders NarendraModi and Yogi Adityanath for using Hindu seers for electoral gains.
In Ayodhya, Mahant Gyandas, head of the committee of seers which organizes parikrama every year, said that parikramas, be it 14-kosi or 84-kosi, are performed during the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar, which this year was in April. "Holding Yatra in the Bhadon month is neither a tradition, nor mentioned anywhere in religious scriptures. The chief priest of Ram Janmabhumi temple Acharya Satyendra Das said, "The parikrama has already been performed between Chaitra Purnima to Baisakh Navami (in April 25 to May 2, 2013) as per Hindu calendar. The VHP's Yatra is political."
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Kailashanand Brahamchari, the seer of Dakshin Kali Temple, Haridwar, also came out in support of the SP and its leader Azam Khan who met him on Thursday. Kailashanand said that the government should respect views of Hindu seers but also see that communal harmony is not disturbed.
Earlier, Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth in Mathura, Swami Adokhshajanand Teerth Saraswati, had written to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asking him not to allow Sangh Parivar to turn religious yatra into a political one. Accusing the VHP of using the Ram temple issue to divide the nation on religious grounds, he had also demanded VHP to furnish the detailed account of the funds it received through donation for construction of the Ram temple.
UP president of the Mahasabha, Kashinath said that VHP and RSS start activities to polarize Hindu votes in favour of the BJP whenever elections are round the corner but thereafter puts Hindutava on the back burner. Similarly, he said, they are using the Yatra for political gains and would throw away seers once their purpose was solved. "If VHP is really cares about Hindus, it must tell people what it has done for other places of Hindu worship," he said. Mahasabha state coordinator Rita Rai said that they will support VHP'sYatra if it is organized after elections. She also accused BJP leaders NarendraModi and Yogi Adityanath for using Hindu seers for electoral gains.
In Ayodhya, Mahant Gyandas, head of the committee of seers which organizes parikrama every year, said that parikramas, be it 14-kosi or 84-kosi, are performed during the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar, which this year was in April. "Holding Yatra in the Bhadon month is neither a tradition, nor mentioned anywhere in religious scriptures. The chief priest of Ram Janmabhumi temple Acharya Satyendra Das said, "The parikrama has already been performed between Chaitra Purnima to Baisakh Navami (in April 25 to May 2, 2013) as per Hindu calendar. The VHP's Yatra is political."
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Kailashanand Brahamchari, the seer of Dakshin Kali Temple, Haridwar, also came out in support of the SP and its leader Azam Khan who met him on Thursday. Kailashanand said that the government should respect views of Hindu seers but also see that communal harmony is not disturbed.
Earlier, Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth in Mathura, Swami Adokhshajanand Teerth Saraswati, had written to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asking him not to allow Sangh Parivar to turn religious yatra into a political one. Accusing the VHP of using the Ram temple issue to divide the nation on religious grounds, he had also demanded VHP to furnish the detailed account of the funds it received through donation for construction of the Ram temple.
