VHP seeks support of President to bring culprits to book

Pankaj Shah | TNN | Updated: Apr 28, 2020, 09:05 IST

Two seers of Juna Akhara and their driver were lynched by a mob in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on April 16

LUCKNOW: With an aim to mobilise Hindus and seers over the Palghar lynchings, Vishwa Hindu Parishad will launch a nationwide campaign to seek the President’s intervention to bring the culprits behind the incident to book.
Two seers of Juna Akhara and their driver were lynched by a mob in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on April 16, triggering a nationwide uproar.
The campaign will be launched on April 28, which is also the birth anniversary of seers Adi Shankaracharya and Ramanujacharya. VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said they expect maximum participation of seers from UP where most of the akharas are based. Seers from Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Mathura will also be mobilised, he added.
The seers will issue a joint appeal to Hindus while sending a memorandum to the President, through district magistrates in their respective districts, seeking justice for the victims.
“The idea is to mobilise seers as well as the entire Hindu society vis-à-vis Palghar incident which has raised question over the safety of seers in Maharashtra,” Bansal told TOI.
VHP sources said the outfit will appeal to Hindus to observe fast and organise havan in their homes while jointly dispatching a memorandum to President of India on Tuesday.
The move is seen as VHP’s attempt to flex its muscles against Shiv Sena which snapped ties with BJP to form an alliance government with NCP and Congress in Maharashtra in November last year. Sources said VHP was in no mood to let go the Palghar incident while attempting to rumble the Shiv Sena on its home turf.
VHP secretary general Milind Parande said besides Palghar, there was a murderous attack on seers in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district too. Blaming Christian missionaries and leftists behind such attacks, Parande said it was worrying that the main perpetrators of Palghar and Hoshiarpur have still not been arrested. “The Punjab government should immediately arrest the criminals and ensure they get severe punishment,” he said.
Parande claimed Hindu seers are being attacked in regions where religious conversions by Christian missionaries and non-democratic leftist activities have intensified.