JANYALA SREENIVAS & DARSHAN DESAI (Indian Express)

AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 27: Both Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani strongly urged the VHP to exercise restraint in the wake of the Gujarat killings today. Maybe their message would have been more effective had they slipped in a couple of words for their own party and government in Gujarat.


For, there’s evidence to show that both the state and the party machinery are actively pitching in for the VHP’s current Ayodhya campaign. And no one is shy of admitting this.


Says State BJP chief Rajendrasinh Rana: ‘‘Yes, wherever necessary, the BJP as a party is helping the VHP in taking the sevaks.’’ What kind of help is this? ‘‘Requesting reservations on BJP MPs’ quota and clearing minor hurdles,’’ Rana says.

Consider some ‘‘minor’’ facts:


• Since February 22, crowds of Ayodhya-bound kar sevaks have been gathering at the Ahmedabad Railway Station whenever the Sabarmati Express leaves— thrice a week. That they have support from official quarters is evident.

On February 24, the Western Railways granted them half the train for free; entire compartments have been reserved under BJP MPs’ and MLAs’ quotas and special changes are made in the train’s schedule to accommodate the VHP’s requests.
• ‘‘On a specific request, we have attached three bogies to the Sabarmati Express,’’ says Officer on Special Duty and Area Manager of Western Railway R K Meena but refused to comment on who made the request and whether it was paid for or not.
• Sources in the Reservation Section at Ahmedabad said, on February 24 when a mob of around 400 sevaks took over three reserved compartments evicting families with valid tickets, the Western Railways was forced to refund about 100 tickets.
• At Karnamukteshwar Temple, near the new cloth market in Ahmedabad, Vikas Telian, regional organisational secretary of RSS, oversees distribution of food packets to the sevaks. ‘‘These people have come from far-off places. We have to take care of them. Sevaks from all parts of Gujarat will be going to Ayodhya and we are making all arrangements for them,’’ Telian says.
• Trucks laden with foodgrains arrive at a nearby makeshift godown. ‘‘They have been donated by BJP members, many of whom own provision stores or rice mills,’’ says Devshibhai, the local organisational secretary of VHP.
• Says Jayeshbhai Dholakia, the Saurashtra-Kutch VHP unit secretary: ‘‘The BJP’s doctors and advocate cells have done their bit by arranging for tickets and reservations. Councillors have helped by arranging donations.’’
• ‘‘People are donating freely,’’ says VHP Ahmedabad City General Secretary Jaibhai Shah, ‘‘but if we have any problem, sometimes the BJP does help.’’
• Special luxury buses bring the ‘sevaks’ from as far as Jamnagar and Veraval to the Ahmedabad Railway Station and each trip costs Rs 8,000. ‘‘We were told by our sarpanch at the BJP office in Jodia that the VHP will take care of everything,’’ says Arvindbhai Solanki from Jodia taluka.


• Several BJP corporators including Amit Shah are organising trips to Ayodhya along with their supporters.


If the lines are blurred on the ground, they aren’t any clearer in the Assembly. In fact, when the Godhra tragedy came up for a special discussion in the Assembly today, the demand for Zero Hour came not from the Opposition first—as is the norm—but from a ruling party MLA, Maya Kodnani, a known Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist.


And it did not surprise anyone that almost all BJP MLAs were on their feet shouting ‘‘Shame shame’’ at the Opposition Congress even before the government had replied.


The communal overtone was clear since the Congress here is seen as
‘‘pro-minority.’’ The man, who was explaining the details of the Godhra incident, was Minister of State for Home Gordhan Jhadaphia, a staunch VHP activist, who has never minced words about this fact.


By the time Jhadaphia and RSS pracharak and Chief Minister Narendra Modi rushed to Godhra, two ministers, Ashok Bhatt and Bhupendra Lakhawala, had already reached there. Bhatt, along with Union Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak, was allegedly involved in the 1985 communal riots.