VHP ready to corner Advani

MUMBAI : The first task BJP president LK Advani will face after his return to India will be to explain why he supported partition and lamented the Babri demolition during his visit to Pakistan . The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has decided to take up the matter at its Haridwar conclave on June 14-15 for deciding its plan of action about the BJP and Advani.While the RSS and the BJP maintained silence over the controversial statements on Friday, the Hindu Mahasabha, once led by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, has condemned Advani for jettisoning Hindutva ideology for personal and party gains. Both hardcore organisations have demanded an immediate apology from Advani while condemning him roundly. They have demanded that the BJP must clarify its stand vis a vis the Hindu majority in India and direct Advani to apologise to the Hindus for hurting their sentiments. Hindu Mahasabha leader Vikram Savarkar, nephew of Veer Savarkar, condmned the BJP chief in very harsh terms. He said on Friday that both statements made by Advani were highly deplorable. Advani had tried to play with the sentiments of the Hindu majority of India to enhance his own image and emerge as a liberal, Savarkar alleged. Reminding Advani that he always called himself a swayamsevak of the RSS,... ...Savarkar said the RSS must clarify its stand in the matter now since it had never given up its ideology of Hindutva, 'Akhand Bharat' or the Ram temple at Ayodhya. VHP Maharashtra regional secretary Venkatesh Abdev charged that Advani had betrayed the Hindus. The least the BJP and Advani should do would be to apologise to 90 crore Hindus of India, Abdev said. An invitee for the VHP Haridwar meet, Abdev said the central advisory board of the VHP would guide the rank and file about the next plan of action. The board consists all top VHP leaders and various sants. According to Abdev, the statements made by Advani were shocking since they were against the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, which holds that partition was an aberration which should be rectified as early as possible. Secondly, the Parivar has never changed its stand that a Ram temple was demolished 500 years ago to construct the Babri mosque. "Advani has betrayed the faith and trust the Hindus reposed in him as a member of the Parivar," Abdev argued. On the other hand, Savarkar felt that Advani wanted to refurbish his image as a liberal Hindu leader. He said,"Now that Advani is preparing to replace Atal Behari Vajpayee, he is trying to portray himself in a different light. Advani's statements in Pakistan about himself are indication enough." In Pakistan, Advani repeatedly said that his public image and his actual personality were far apart. Later, he declared that partition was permanent and described December 6, 1992 as the saddest day of his life as the Babri was demolished that day. "Whose role Advani wants to enact, Chhatrapati Shivaji's or that of Afzal Khan?," Savarkar asked. Reiterating the Hindu Mahasabha's stand that 'Akhand Bharat' must be recreated at the earliest, Savarkar said even the Supreme Court had upheld the inclusion of the word 'Sindh' in national anthem since it represented a culture and not a mere geographic region. Likewise, the RSS also stood against partition. "It is high time the RSS clarifies its policy regarding Akhand Bharat, the Babri demolition and the BJP," Savarkar demanded. Savarkar reaffirmed that only a common civil code would create peace once Akhand Bharat was re-established. If this was not done soon, the danger of another disintegration of India could not be rule out, he warned.