BJP to skip Holi festival, to take out integration yatra

New Delhi, Mar 8: Expressing its anger against increasing terrorist attacks on temples, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Mar 8, 2006) decided to take out a twin national integration yatra across the country to protest against UPA's policy of appeasement of minorities which was jeopardising social unity.

The party has also decided not to celebrate Holi, the festival of colours, on March 15 to express its anguish against yesterday's serial attacks in Varanasi.

Its top leaders, led by Leader of Opposition L K Advani, will be visiting the Sankat Mochan temple, the site of one of the blasts yesterday, to offer prayers.

The two to three week long yatras will be led by Mr Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh and will traverse the country, touching all regions.

Announcing this at a news conference, Mr Advani asserted that the party's agitation will not be confined to protests in Parliament, but would be taken to the people.

The exact dates and schedules for the yatras was being worked out, he said.

He disagreed with the suggestion that the integration yatra was aimed at consolidating the Hindu votes in view of the coming elections in the five states.

He said the party had all along been against vote bank politics of the Congress. ''Justice for all and appeasement for none has been our slogan all these years,'' he said.

The temple attack had given two important lessons, first, the terrorist elements were still active in the country, and secondly, terrorist infrastructure across the border was existing lending logistic support to disruptive activities in India, he said.

Lambasting the UPA for pursuing a policy of ''minorityism'' for the sake of vote bank politics, Mr Advani said in the present context any party which pursued this policy was contributing dangerously to religious fundamentalism and causing incalculable damage to national unity and security. Referring to a photograph of Left and Muslim organisations' demonstration during US President George W Bush's visit, Mr Advani said the protestors carried a placard which read ''we are ready to become suicide bombers'', he said, ''This is a dangerous game''.

Mr Advani said ever since the commencement of a dialogue between India and Pakistan an impression was generated that the terrorist activities in the country had abated. ''This is wrong, it has not abated,'' he said.

He said the Congress in its eagerness to win back Muslim votes had taken several dangerous steps that could be termed ''anti-national''.

In listing out the ''acts of appeasement'', he cited reservations for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh and in the Aligarh Muslim University, bringing back the Illegal Migrants Detection Tribunal through backdoor, all struck down by courts.

''This action is nothing but a contempt of court,'' he said pointing to the Supreme Court order reminding the Centre of its responsibility to protect the states from external aggression and internal disturbances.

UNI