New Delhi: The Ayodhya Yatra on Monday not just hit Parliament but also the streets of Delhi as Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers held protests at Jantar Mantar against the Uttar Pradesh government's crackdown. The police used water canons to disperse the protesters after they tried to break barricades.
Around 200 activists were on their way towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan. In Bangalore too, activists took to the streets in the IT city, shouting slogans and marching with banners decrying the SP government's misrule in Uttar Pradesh.
The VHP announced a nationwide protest on Monday against the UP government's crackdown on its Ayodhya yatra on Sunday. Senior VHP leader Pravin Togadia was arrested on Sunday while other top VHP leaders including Ashok Singhal were among the 450 people detained.
Togadia was sent to 14 days judicial custody. VHP leader Ramvilas Vedanti was the first one to be arrested at a temple near Ayodhya.
The authorities had also imposed Section 144 not only in Faizabad but also in five neighbouring districts. There was barricading at every road leading to Saryu river. The administration said they were prepared for the worst.
Faizabad DM Vipin Kumar said, "We were successful in stopping the yatra. We have arrested over 448 activists and top leaders of VHP."
There were reports of minor confrontations on Sunday as police tried to enforce the prohibitory orders clamped in the city and the ban on the yatra. The holy city of Ayodhya was turned into a fortress and around 8,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident and prevent any VHP karsevak from entering the temple town.
Prominent among those arrested by the state police include Savitri Bai Phule, VHP's provincial coordinator Acharya Kushmuni and Mahant Santosh Das alias Sathu Baba, a VHP office bearer in Varanasi while prominent VHP leader Mahant Ram Saran Das was held at Ram Sanehi Ghat in Ayodhya.
In Amethi, peethdheshwar of Sagra Ashram Abhay Chaitanya Mauni Mahraj was also put under house arrest as a precautionary measure.
A team led by the Faizabad DM and SSP had on Saturday carried out searches at VHP's local headquarter Karsewak Puram, Mani Ram Chawni, the temple of VHP leader and president of Ram Janam Bhumi Trust, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and about half a dozen suspected hideouts of VHP's activists in and around Ayodhya.
Temporary jails were set up by the government in districts including Faizabad (10), Barabanki,(12), Bahraich (16), Basti (2), Gonda (3) and Ambedkarnagar (5), which lie in the yatra route.
The Samajwadi Party government of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had earlier denied permission for the yatra over a possible communal flareup and came under attack from the BJP which raised the issue in Parliament. The Allahabad High Court, too, had dismissed a PIL seeking to list the ban on the yatra.
(With additional information from PTI)
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