News Analysis India

Tag: Vishwa Hindu Parishad

  • Bajrang Dal, VHP cadres vandalize under-construction mosque in UP

    By Online Desk

    The cadres of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday vandalized an under-construction mosque located near the Balkhandi Naka area in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh.

    The video of the vandalism has gone viral on social media.

    The cadres went berserk even as the police officers, who were called to control the commotion, stood as mute spectators. 

    #bandapolice थाना कोतवाली नगर क्षेत्र की घटना के संबंध में वीडियो बाइट पुलिस अधीक्षक बांदा श्री अभिनंदन।#अभिनंदन #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/oYMmaLh50g
    — Banda Police (@bandapolice) February 16, 2023

    According to a report, the violent mob parked their bikes in the middle of the road and started yelling slogans against the construction of the mosque, which also caused hindrance in traffic movement.

    On information, police rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. But instead of controlling the unruly mob, the policemen remained a silent spectator to the acts of the right-wing group, ETV Bharat reported. 

    The cadres of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday vandalized an under-construction mosque located near the Balkhandi Naka area in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh.

    The video of the vandalism has gone viral on social media.

    The cadres went berserk even as the police officers, who were called to control the commotion, stood as mute spectators. 

    #bandapolice थाना कोतवाली नगर क्षेत्र की घटना के संबंध में वीडियो बाइट पुलिस अधीक्षक बांदा श्री अभिनंदन।#अभिनंदन #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/oYMmaLh50g
    — Banda Police (@bandapolice) February 16, 2023

    According to a report, the violent mob parked their bikes in the middle of the road and started yelling slogans against the construction of the mosque, which also caused hindrance in traffic movement.

    On information, police rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. But instead of controlling the unruly mob, the policemen remained a silent spectator to the acts of the right-wing group, ETV Bharat reported. 

  • MP: Bajrang Dal, VHP Activists stop vehicle carrying tribal children, allege religious conversion

    By PTI

    KHANDWA: Right-wing activists created ruckus by intercepting a vehicle transporting a group of children to a programme at a school in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa on Monday, accusing the organisers of religious conversion, police said.

    The incident occurred when a vehicle was transporting a group of tribal boys and girls to a programme being organised at Saint Pius School in Khandwa, an official said.

    Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal stopped the vehicle near the school, alleging that the children were being taken for religious conversion.

    According to eye-witnesses, the right-wing activists stopped the vehicle for a long time till the police and district officials reached the spot.

    The VHP’s district secretary Animesh Joshi claimed that they had stopped the vehicle after receiving information that a group of tribal boys and girls were being brought for religious conversion.

    Action should be taken against the organisers, as they were conducting the programme without permission, he said.

    Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Arvind Chouhan, who also reached the spot following the incident, said the police were investigating the matter, as the programme was organised without any prior permission.

    The police have recorded the statements of the children, organisers and school teachers and further legal steps will be taken after a probe, he said.

    Meanwhile, Father Jose, the organiser of the programme, claimed that only catholic boys and girls were invited for the programme, and efforts to seek permission for the event from the district administration were not successful.

    KHANDWA: Right-wing activists created ruckus by intercepting a vehicle transporting a group of children to a programme at a school in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa on Monday, accusing the organisers of religious conversion, police said.

    The incident occurred when a vehicle was transporting a group of tribal boys and girls to a programme being organised at Saint Pius School in Khandwa, an official said.

    Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal stopped the vehicle near the school, alleging that the children were being taken for religious conversion.

    According to eye-witnesses, the right-wing activists stopped the vehicle for a long time till the police and district officials reached the spot.

    The VHP’s district secretary Animesh Joshi claimed that they had stopped the vehicle after receiving information that a group of tribal boys and girls were being brought for religious conversion.

    Action should be taken against the organisers, as they were conducting the programme without permission, he said.

    Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Arvind Chouhan, who also reached the spot following the incident, said the police were investigating the matter, as the programme was organised without any prior permission.

    The police have recorded the statements of the children, organisers and school teachers and further legal steps will be taken after a probe, he said.

    Meanwhile, Father Jose, the organiser of the programme, claimed that only catholic boys and girls were invited for the programme, and efforts to seek permission for the event from the district administration were not successful.

  • Cheques worth Rs 22 crore donated to Ram Mandir Trust ‘bounced’: Vishwa Hindu Parishad

    By PTI

    AYODHYA (UTTAR PRADESH): Even as devotees from across the country have donated liberally for the construction of Ram Temple here, 15,000 cheques worth more than Rs 22 crore received by the temple trust bounced, officials said here on Monday.

    According to a report released by Vishwa Hindu Parishad on the behalf of its district units across the country, so far a sum of Rs 3,400 crore has been received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in donation.

    The report also gave information about the bounced cheques, but did not elaborate on the reasons they could not be honoured. “A second report is also being prepared separating such cheques, so that we can get the exact information about cheques that have bounced due to various reasons,” Prakash Gupta, office manager of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya, told PTI.

    “Many cheques might have bounced due to spelling mistakes or signature mismatch or any other technical reasons. Cheques which bounced due to petty technical reasons would be presented again with the bank,” he said.

    The report revealed that the donors from Ayodhya district have the maximum number of bounced cheques, exceeding 2,000. “Insufficient balance in the account has also emerged to be one of the main reasons for bouncing of cheques,” Gupta said.

    He said that the number of people donating from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for the construction of Ram temple is 31,663. The number of people donating from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh is 1,428. “A total of 123 people donated between Rs 25 lakh and 50 lakh, and 127 donated between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. The number of people donating more than Rs 1 crore is 74,” Gupta said.

  • Ayodhya temple: Donation cheques worth Rs 22 crore bounce

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The donation campaign, which was spearheaded by Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) towards the construction of the Ram temple on Shree Ram Janmabhoomi premises, has led the coffers of the temple trust brimming with Rs 5457.94 crore but the tentative report of the team monitoring the donation campaign at all India level has claimed that the cheques worth Rs 22 crore of the corpus have bounced.

    On the other, the figure of the total amount collected so far is tentative as a district-wise audit of the trust accounts is going on. As per the trust sources, a new audit report was being prepared separating the cheques which were bounced.

    Moreover, each bounced cheques is being examined to ascertain the reason for which it got bounced. “The cheques which were bounced due to technical reasons would be represented again after taking the consent of the bank concerned,” said a member of the trust.

    It may be recalled that a 44-day fund-raising campaign was launched by the temple trust and the VHP on January 14, 2021. The initial campaign had resulted in the collection of Rs 2100 crore at its conclusion on February 28, 2021.

    Before launching the campaign, the temple trust had given an estimated projection of Rs 1100 crore for the construction of temple premises. The temple alone was estimated to be constructed at a cost of Rs 300-400 crore. Till June last year, the Temple Trust had got a total of Rs 3,200 crore collected through people’s donation in its account. As per trust general secretary Champat Rai, the initial sum was collected after a campaign with 11 crore families at five crore eleven lakh places across the country.

    ALSO READ | Ram temple foundation in Ayodhya to be completed this month, consecration by December 2023: VHP

    At present, according to the report of the team monitoring the donations, of the total amount of over Rs 5400 crore, Rs 2235.97 crore were received by coupons and receipts, Rs 2753.97 were collected through digital medium and Rs 450 crore were collected in the savings account owned by the temple trust in SBI, PNB and Bank of Baroda (BOB). The trust had got donation coupons printed for Rs 10, Rs 100 and Rs 1000. 

    The donation amount more than Rs 1000 was accepted by the temple trust on the receipts it issued to the donator.

    As per a report of the trust, Rs 30.99 crore were collected through Rs 10 coupon, Rs 372.48 crore were collected through Rs 100 coupon and Rs 225.46 crore came through Rs 1000 coupons. Moreover, Rs 1625.04 crore was collected through receipts.

  • Will launch ‘battle’ against Delhi Police if any action is taken against our activists: VHP  

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday threatened to launch “a battle” against the Delhi Police if any action is taken against its activists in connection with the violence during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in Jahangirpuri.

    This came after police said it has registered an FIR against the organisers for taking out the procession without permission, and arrested a person, identified as Prem Sharma, who is a local VHP leader.

    However, the statement was later withdrawn by the police, citing that Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) is a bailable offence and the person who had joined the investigation was let off after questioning. The revised statement issued by the police did not name the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.

    DCP (Northwest) Usha Rangnani said that an FIR was registered against organisers for carrying out a procession on Saturday evening in the area without permission and one accused person has joined the investigation.

    Reacting sharply to the police action, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal told PTI, “We have learnt that an FIR has been registered against VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, and one of the activists has been arrested as well. They (police) have done a big blunder.”

    He rejected as “absurd” the police claim that the procession was taken out by the organisers without permission and said it seems police have bowed down before “Islamic jihadis”. “If there was no permission, how police personnel in such a large number were accompanying the yatra (procession)?” he asked.

    ALSO READ| Jahangirpuri clashes: Scrap dealer who supplied bottles for pelting arrested, says Delhi Police

    Bansal said the VHP is “a law-abiding organisation” and levelling such an allegation against it and its activists raises many questions on the functioning of the police. The VHP will not “tolerate such things” he said “VHP will launch a battle if they (police) try to lodge a false case or pick any of its activists,” Bansal warned.

    Bansal accused the Delhi Police of “high handedness”, saying “all of a sudden, it withdrew a permission granted to a procession which was scheduled to be taken out on Monday”.

    “Also, yesterday in the morning, police forcefully stopped a yatra (procession), taken out from Bhalsawa village, about 100 metres before the point where it was scheduled to conclude,” he alleged and asked, “What is this?”.

  • Ram janmabhoomi teerth kshetra to be developed on lines of Vatican City and Mecca: VHP chief

    Rabindra Narain Singh hailed the Narendra Modi government for tightening the noose on foreign funding aimed at religious conversion in India.

  • Arrested women scribes to be handed over to Tripura cops on Monday; Editors Guild, IWPC condemn the detentions

    By PTI

    AGARTALA/KARIMGANJ: Two women journalists, who came to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents in Tripura were detained by Assam police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to Assam-Tripura border on Sunday, police officials in both states confirmed.

    Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were named in a FIR at Fatikroy Police Station of Tripura on Sunday based on a complaint filed by a supporter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), alleging that they had maligned the image of Tripura government by their reporting, according to a statement issued by their employer.

    The duo are being kept at a government-run shelter home for women for the night and will be handed over to the Tripura police on Monday morning, an Assam police officer said.

    The two scribes were held by Assam Police on their way to Silchar airport later on Sunday, with Assam Police informing them that they were being held as “Tripura Police asked (Assam Police) to detain them (the duo)’.”

    In a tweet, Sakunia wrote, “We have been detained at the Nilambazar police station, Karimganj, Assam. We were informed by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar PS that SP of Gomti District gave the orders for our detention.”

    A senior police official in Agartala said that they were detained on the basis of requests by Tripura police and a team of Tripura Police officials from Dharmanagar has gone to Nilambazaar to bring them.

    The official said, the journalists posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake were true by interrogating them”, he added.

    In a tweet on November 11, Sakunia had written, “#Tripuraviolence Darga Bazaar: On 19th October at around 2:30 am, some unidentified people burnt down the mosque in Darga Bazaar area. People in the neighborhood are very upset with the fact that now they don’t have any place nearby to go and pray.”

    The police official said, “The journalists had a travel plan to fly outside Tripura and police asked them to meet some police officials before leaving the state. The duo then changed their travel plan and started for Silchar in Assam without informing us. So Tripura police requested Assam police on the basis of which they detained the journalists.”

    A press release issued from the office of Tripura Police Director General VS Yadav claimed that the posts by Sakunia were not true and promoting a sense of hatred between communities.

    “In this social media post, she posted a video of her visit to the half burned prayer hall damaged by mischievous fire in the house of one Rahamat Ali of Hurijala, PS Kakraban on 11/11/2021 to claim that one holy Quran was burned in the incident occurred on the night of 19/10/2021 which refers to Kakraban PS Case No.74/2021 U/S 436 IPC.”

    “This is contrary to the findings so far revealed in course of investigation as presence of no such damaged books/documents was brought to the notice of investigating officer and fire service staff who extinguished the fire,” the police statement said.

    The statement added that a team of lawyers, who visited the state earlier, had made a similar claim with a “questionable photograph”.

    It added that people with “vested interests” were trying to flare up communal tension in the state.

    The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on Sunday condemned the detention of two women journalists.

    Police officials in both the states have confirmed that Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, who went to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents there, were detained by the Assam Police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to the border between the two states on Sunday.

    “Editors Guild condemns this action and demands their immediate release and restoration of their freedom to travel,” the EGI said in a statement.

    The IWPC also condemned the police action against the two journalists and demanded that they should be allowed to do their job without any fear.

    “We understand that the two women journalists, Ms Sakuni and Ms Jha, are to be taken back to Tripura for questioning,” the IWPC said, adding, “We demand that they be released immediately and be allowed to do their job.”

    The official said the journalists had posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake or true by interrogating them,” he added.

  • Arrested women scribes to be handed over to Tripura cops on Monday; Opposition, media bodies protest

    By PTI

    AGARTALA/KARIMGANJ: Two women journalists, who came to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents in Tripura were detained by Assam police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to Assam-Tripura border on Sunday, police officials in both states confirmed.

    Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were named in a FIR at Fatikroy Police Station of Tripura on Sunday based on a complaint filed by a supporter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), alleging that they had maligned the image of Tripura government by their reporting, according to a statement issued by their employer.

    The duo are being kept at a government-run shelter home for women for the night and will be handed over to the Tripura police on Monday morning, an Assam police officer said.

    The two scribes were held by Assam Police on their way to Silchar airport later on Sunday, with Assam Police informing them that they were being held as “Tripura Police asked (Assam Police) to detain them (the duo)’.”

    In a tweet, Sakunia wrote, “We have been detained at the Nilambazar police station, Karimganj, Assam. We were informed by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar PS that SP of Gomti District gave the orders for our detention.”

    A senior police official in Agartala said that they were detained on the basis of requests by Tripura police and a team of Tripura Police officials from Dharmanagar has gone to Nilambazaar to bring them.

    The official said, the journalists posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake were true by interrogating them”, he added.

    In a tweet on November 11, Sakunia had written, “#Tripuraviolence Darga Bazaar: On 19th October at around 2:30 am, some unidentified people burnt down the mosque in Darga Bazaar area. People in the neighborhood are very upset with the fact that now they don’t have any place nearby to go and pray.”

    The police official said, “The journalists had a travel plan to fly outside Tripura and police asked them to meet some police officials before leaving the state. The duo then changed their travel plan and started for Silchar in Assam without informing us. So Tripura police requested Assam police on the basis of which they detained the journalists.”

    A press release issued from the office of Tripura Police Director General VS Yadav claimed that the posts by Sakunia were not true and promoting a sense of hatred between communities.

    “In this social media post, she posted a video of her visit to the half burned prayer hall damaged by mischievous fire in the house of one Rahamat Ali of Hurijala, PS Kakraban on 11/11/2021 to claim that one holy Quran was burned in the incident occurred on the night of 19/10/2021 which refers to Kakraban PS Case No.74/2021 U/S 436 IPC.”

    “This is contrary to the findings so far revealed in course of investigation as presence of no such damaged books/documents was brought to the notice of investigating officer and fire service staff who extinguished the fire,” the police statement said.

    The statement added that a team of lawyers, who visited the state earlier, had made a similar claim with a “questionable photograph”.

    It added that people with “vested interests” were trying to flare up communal tension in the state.

    The Editors Guild of India (EGI) and Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on Sunday condemned the detention of two women journalists.

    Police officials in both the states have confirmed that Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, who went to Tripura to write on the recent communal incidents there, were detained by the Assam Police at Karimganj’s Neelam Bazar, close to the border between the two states on Sunday.

    “Editors Guild condemns this action and demands their immediate release and restoration of their freedom to travel,” the EGI said in a statement.

    The IWPC also condemned the police action against the two journalists and demanded that they should be allowed to do their job without any fear.

    “We understand that the two women journalists, Ms Sakuni and Ms Jha, are to be taken back to Tripura for questioning,” the IWPC said, adding, “We demand that they be released immediately and be allowed to do their job.”

    The official said the journalists had posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.

    “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her were doctored and police wanted to know if the videos were fake or true by interrogating them,” he added.

    The BJP is busy “killing” journalism but when has the truth stopped in the face of lies, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday  over the detentions.

    “The BJP system is busy killing journalism. But when has the truth stopped in the face of lies?” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. He used the hashtag ‘Tripura’ and ‘NoFear’.

  • MP: Nine arrested for religious ‘conversion attempt’ in Jhabua

    By PTI

    JHABUA/BHOPAL: Police have arrested nine persons, seven of them from Rajasthan and Gujarat, in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district on charge of indulging in religious conversion, an official said on Friday.

    The police registered a case against 10 persons following a complaint filed by a man linked to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

    “We received information on Wednesday that some outsiders were allegedly luring tribals to convert to Christianity at Manpur village under the Thandla police station area,” the official said.

    After that, a police team and some residents of the area reached the village and found that seven persons from Rajasthan and Gujarat and their local contacts were attempting religious conversion by offering inducements at the residence of one Naru Damor, Thandla sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) M S Gavli said.

    Later, the police booked a total of 10 persons under relevant sections of Madhya Pradesh’s anti-religious conversion law and arrested nine of then, he added.

    They were produced in a local court, which sent them to jail on Thursday, the SDOP said.

    Talking to reporters in Indore on Wednesday, VHP general secretary Milind Parande alleged that Christian missionaries were involved in illegal conversions in tribal-dominated Jhabua district.

    “We demand action against everyone involved in illegal conversions,” the VHP leader had said.

  • ‘Just one isolated incident…’, says Tripura minister as Jamiat claims vandalism of 12 mosques

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: At least a dozen mosques were targeted in Tripura during the bout of violence which started about a week ago, the Tripura State Jamiat Ulama (Hind) alleged on Thursday.

    Even as there seems to be an atmosphere of fear with everyone, including a retired judge who heads a rights organisation, refusing to comment on the incidents, the Tripura State Jamiat Ulama said while one mosque was set on fire, 11-12 others were vandalised and damaged.

    “A portion of the Ichacherra mosque was damaged following arson. Elsewhere, the mosques were vandalised or their signboards etc damaged,” Mufti Tayebur Rahman, who is the president of Tripura State Jamiat Ulama, told The New Indian Express.

    Stating that some of the attacks were carried out at night, he said the Hindus helped repair one or two mosques. The last of the incidents occurred in Panisagar on Tuesday during a procession taken out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

    The state’s Minority Affairs Minister Ratanlal Nath played down the violence, claiming that there was just one incident and it was “not an attack”.

    “It was an isolated incident which occurred at a particular place. Section 144 of the CrPC has been already clamped (in Panisagar and Dharmanagar sub-divisions of the North Tripura district). Other steps were also taken immediately,” Nath told this newspaper on Thursday.

    He said political and administrative steps were taken side by side. He also said that a team had visited the violence-hit area to thwart the escalation of the problem.

    “It was not like the incidents taking place in Bangladesh and not an attack. Only one person had hit (a mosque) during a procession. A shop was put on fire but it was doused soon after by the firefighters,” the minister said.

    ALSO READ | Section 144 clamped in Tripura’s Panisagar and Dharmatala sub-divisions after violence

    He was referring to the incident in Panisagar. Violence was also reported from Dharmanagar.

    The BJP’s Panisagar MLA, Binay Bhushan Das said three shops were torched and three to four houses damaged. He said a mosque was also “partially vandalised”. “The attack was carried out during a VHP procession by elements participating in it or by others. Since the Opposition parties have been for long looking for opportunities to tarnish the BJP’s image, I don’t rule out their involvement,” the MLA said.

    He said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had insisted on the maintenance of peace and communal harmony and directed him to talk to the administration and ensure that the culprits were punished early.

    The Tripura Police said, “Old videos are being circulated on social media regarding the Panisagar Masjid” and fake IDs created on the social media to spread rumours.

    The police said the situation was normal and meetings were being organised among communities for the maintenance of harmony.

    “The situation is perfectly normal. We have deployed sufficient manpower. A peace meeting was held yesterday (Wednesday) at Dharmanagar and another at Panisagar today (Thursday),” a senior police officer said.

    The CPI-M and the Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of supporting the right-wing organisations to gain political mileage in the civic polls next month and the Assembly elections in 2023, a charge which the BJP trashed.

    The Congress staged a sit-in demonstration on Thursday in protest against the “attacks on the houses of the Muslims and arson at the mosque by BJP goons”.

    State Congress president Birajit Sinha alleged the right-wing organisations were attacking mosques and torching the houses and shops of Muslims during processions.

    “We are a secular country but the BJP doesn’t understand secularism. It tries to secure votes by fanning communal passions but the people of Tripura are now politically conscious. They are fed up with the BJP for looting the state and failing on its commitments,” Sinha said.