VHP demands release of Gorakhpur BJP MP, warns of dire consequences

New Delhi, Jan 30 (UNI) Warning that more trouble was in store if Gorakhpur BJP MP Yogi Adityanath was not freed immediately and unconditionally, the VHP today said these ''organised riots'' were being programmed by the ruling Samajwadi Party to influence the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

The arrests of Hindu leaders were being made as per a plan by the ruling party which was competing with other parties to appease Muslims before the coming Assembly elections, said VHP stalwart Ashok Singhal while addressing mediapersons.

''If the MP is not freed the condition would worsen in the area very soon. This appeasement and abetment of Muslims would encourage and embolden forces which were out to disturb communal harmony and polarise 'vote banks' during the elections.'' Stressing that it all began with the January 4 rally of the Samajwadi Party protesting Saddam Hussein's hanging, Mr Singhal said there seems to be a pattern in the manner Muslims were being patronised and protected by the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh.

''Despite the culprits being from the ''other side'' those advocating for the Hindus were being targetted and punished, and the arrest of Yogi Adiyanath was testimony to this.'' Instead of punishing those who killed Rajkumar Agrahari, the person who protested against the teasing of women during a marriage procession in Gorakhpur which led to communal violence, after dragging him out from a police vehicle (where he was 'sheltered' following the 'altercation') police have arrested the Hindu protestors, said the VHP leader.

''It is a shame that the Gorakhnath temple was stoned and its wall broken besides the torching of several Hindu shops by rowdy Muslims on the rampage, following the 'clashes', and the police did nothing.'' We demand that Adityanath, heir to the ''Goraksh Peeth'' in Gorakhpur, be released immediately and a compensatiuon of Rs ten lakh be paid to the family of Rajkumar who tried to save the honour of women from Muslim hooligans, he added.

UNI