Delhiites get a chance
to see world through
women’s eyes

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: How does the world look when seen through the eyes of Asian women? "Poorva" — the first Asian.....more

Prevalence of child
trafficking in Maharashtra
high, says NGO

MUMBAI, Jan 4: City-based NGO Women’s Institute for Social Education (WISE) is organising a sensitisation conference here on January 12 on the ....more

NDA to further intensify struggle against RJD Govt

PATNA, Jan 4: The NDA today resolved to further intensify its agitation ......more

Powell speaks to Sinha

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha last night for a general exchange of views ...more

ISRO plans to develop
agriculture satellites

BANGALORE, Jan 4: The Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to develop a series of high bandwidth ....more

All India Youth Congress
demands "universalisation of education"

CHANDIGARH, Jan 4: All India Youth Congress has demanded "universalisation of education" and constitution....more

NDA stages state-wide
dharna for Rabri
Devi’s removal

PATNA, Jan 4: NDA constituents and the CPI(ML) today staged dharnas all over Bihar demanding dismissal ......more

Justice Phukan to head
Inquiry Commission
on Tehelka expose

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Retired Supreme Court Judge Justice S N Phukan was....more

Political bonhomie marks Khurana’s new year get-together .........

10 top NRIs to be conferred with Bharatiya Samman awards by PM.......

Rabri Devi orders CBI probe into encounter ....

Agenda should not come in way of Ram Temple construction ..


Delhiites get a chance to see world through women’s eyes

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: How does the world look when seen through the eyes of Asian women?

"Poorva" — the first Asian Women Directors Theatre Festival and Conference — began here last evening, aiming to answer this and many related queries and dish out a rare treat of 20 plays, native and foreign, within a span of eight days, for the theatre lovers of the capital.

The event comprises the festival, in which 20 plays from Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia and India would be staged, and a four-day conference in which nearly 60 women directors, scholars, actors and other artistes will participate.

"Let 21st century be the century of women. Let us keep in mind that 2002 has not been a very happy Indian experience. The trauma of what happened in 2002 will continue to haunt us even this year. It is, therefore, nice that events like this are organised," said eminent social activist and writer Mahashweta Devi, who inaugurated the event.

The recipient of the Jnanpith Award and Padmashree pointed at many other practices in our society, apart from theatre, when women have to "perform", but those "performances" expose the extent to which they are being exploited.

In this regard, she mentioned a practice in some villages of the north-eastern part of the country in which whenever the region is struck by drought, women have to go out naked on a moonless night and offer prayers to god to give rains.

Meanwhile, Project Director for the festival and a senior faculty member at National School of Drama (NSD) Kirti Jain said, "Poorva is a celebration of women’s achievements. A directorial work is perceived to be a leader’s work. What prompted us to organise the festival was the fact that we noticed some commonalties and differences in the work of women directors and wanted to probe them. Maybe we could bring into focus anything special which might be present in their work."

"At least a dialogue will begin now. Poorva means of the east and also beginning. It also indicates the feminine gender," she said. Five eminent women directors — Sheila Bhatiya, Vijaya Mehta, Rekha Jain, Joy Michael and Prema Karanth — were also felicitated during the inaugural function and tributes paid to Shanta Gandhi, who died in many last year to recognise their contribution to the theatre scene in the country and their dedication for the art.

Noted Bharatnatyam exponent Mrinalini Sarabhai, who presided over the function, said, "Poorva is the acceptance of the role of women in the universe, of the ‘Mahashakti’. This ‘Shakti’ is with all of us. May she bless us all."

The plays that would be staged today are Usha Ganguli’s "Rudali" and "Moon light in the small courtyard" by Dang Tu Mai of Vietnam National Theatre. Tomorrow’s plays are "a deeper fried jam" by Maya Krishna Rao, "Panaw" by Ma. Cecila B Arriola of the Mebuyan Peace Project, Philippines and "Mahabharat Se" by Tripurari Sharma.

The timing of the plays, which will be staged at three venues-the NSD, Sri Ram Centre and Abhimanch—has been fixed in such a way that it is made possible for theatre lovers to watch all of them, said Prof Devendra Raj Ankur, Director, NSD.

Besides the plays and the conference, a host of other related activities have been organised in the capital, including exhibition of works by women craftspersons at the crafts museum, exhibition of paintings by women painters at the National Gallery of Modern Art (till January 6), a new dialogue series on "world of women" at India Habitat Centre, photo exhibition of actresses at NSD, exhibition of posters of women directors at NSD and so on.

Theatre resource group Natrang Pratisthan, which is organising the event along with the NSD and Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), has also started specialised workshops in colleges and organised symposia and debates during the period. (UNI)

Prevalence of child trafficking in Maharashtra high, says NGO

MUMBAI, Jan 4: City-based NGO Women’s Institute for Social Education (WISE) is organising a sensitisation conference here on January 12 on the prevention of sex tourism and trafficking, which is also the second biggest trade in the world.

WISE is organising the conference in collaboration with the United Nations Development Fund for women as well as the National Human Rights Commission.

Addressing a news conference here yesterday, WISE general secretary Vipula Kadri said prevalence of child trafficking was extremely high in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, where the annual figure of child abuse is as high as approxiamtely 70,000.

Even though there are no estimates of the number of children who are subjected to child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labour, pornography, prostitution and drugs, child-related crimes are on the rise, especially commercial sexual exploitation of the child.

One amongst the many alarming concerns is sex tourism and prostitution. This emerged from the South Asian Conference organised by the Save Our Sisters (SOS) Movement to combat trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children in Goa in 2001.

As a follow up to the Goa conference, which highlighted these problems, it was felt that there was an urgent need to sensitise the travel and tourism industry, considering the trade thrives in most hotels, she said.

The aim of the conference was to unite the travel and tourism industry and collectively support the NGOs in combating trafficking in children, she said. WISE member Ms Vimla Patil said sexual exploitation preys on women and children made vulnerable by poverty and economic development policies and practices, refugee and displaced persons, women in migrating process and those women who have been victims of childhood sex abuse.

Trafficking of women and children is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon interwoven with sex tourism, forced marriages, bonded labour and other similar practices, she said.

It is the vilest form of international organised crime that generates high profits and low risk for traffickers. The United Nations estimates that about four million people are trafficked each year resulting in seven billion dollars in profits to criminal groups, Ms Kadri said.

According to Ms Kadri prevalence of trafficking in Maharashtra, apart from Mumbai, was high in Nanded, Latur, Sangli, Beed. The focus for creating awareness would be on airline, hotels, tourist offices at the conference. (UNI)

NDA to further intensify struggle against RJD Govt

PATNA, Jan 4: The NDA today resolved to further intensify its agitation launched in the aftermath of killing of three students in the fake police encounter here and claimed that the protest had taken the shape of a mass upsurge against the Rabri Devi Ministry.

After the two-hour meeting, NDA leaders told reporters that a delegation of its constituents would meet Governor V C Pande on Monday seeking the dismissal of the "corrupt and killer" Rabri Devi Government.

In the meeting held a day after observing a 12-hour Bihar bandh protesting against the fake encounter, the NDA resolved that its activists would organise dharnas and observe fast on January 7 at all the district headquarters across the state.

Condolence meetings would be held on January 8 at Barichak here, Manjhaul in Begusarai and Parasathua in Rohtas for those killed in December. Seven people were killed by a breakaway faction of people’s war at Barichak in rural Patna, two youths died in police firing at Manjhaul and a Police Havildar and a youth were killed in clash at Parasathua.

NDA workers would organise condolence meeting here on January 9 to mourn the death of three students. Its leaders would march to Rajbhavan on January 11 to protest against ‘inept’ handling of the situation arising out of the fake encounter and demand resignation of the Chief Minister.

Among others, Union Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Paswan, State BJP president Nand Kishore Yadav, Samata president Raghunath Jha, JD-U Legislature Party leader Ganesh Yadav, Samata national spokesman Shambhu Srivastava and opposition leader in State Assembly S K Modi attended the meeting. (PTI)

Powell speaks to Sinha

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha last night for a general exchange of views ahead of a visit next week by a top Bush administration official to india.

Besides exchanging new year greetings, the two leaders talked about the visit of US State Department’s Director of Policy Planning Richard Haass.

Though primarily coming to participate in the CII partnership summit, Haass will use the opportunity to meet National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Monday and apprise them of US perceptions of the Iraq crisis.

India has strongly opposed any unilateral use or threat of use of force against Iraq in violation of the UN charter. It is of the view that a comprehensive settlement of the situation was possible only through political and diplomatic efforts strictly within the rules of international law and only under the aegis of the UN.

New Delhi has also underlined the importance of continuing intensive work with the Iraqi leadership in order to encourage it to cooperate in good faith with the UN on the issue of dismantling of weapons of mass destruction.

In Washington, US officials said Powell and Sinha had "a general discussion".

"They talked a little bit about the forthcoming visit to India by Haass", they said.

"There was no particular reason for the call; it was in the nature of a beginning of the year call," they said.

As part of their intensified dialogue on international security issues, India and the United States will also hold talks here on missile defence later this month. (PTI)

ISRO plans to develop agriculture satellites

BANGALORE, Jan 4: The Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to develop a series of high bandwidth agriculture satellites for thematic applications as part of its mission to develop frontier space technologies with societal relevance, ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan said here today.

The satellites planned would have high bandwidths with 55mb capability and are being planned specifically to track and monitor agricultural resources and development on the land, he said.

The mission also includes a series of satellites for ocean and atmospheric studies, he said in his address at the one-day space summit as part of the 90th Indian Science Congress.

Presently, the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites have already helped scientists and agriculturists to maintain a database of the variety of crops and vegetation that grows in different parts of the country.

However, the planned series of agriculture-specific satellites would also help scientists analyse the data and formulate policies for the future.

Referring to the future of India’s space programme, he said the lunar mission was planned for 2007 and by 2015 the Indian space scientists planned to be actively involved in space observation.

He said space transportation would see a change in the future from the present multi stage to orbit to the single stage launchers by year 2050.

Kasturirangan said all the database procured through satellite technologies on various aspects, including agriculture, meteorology and weather analysis would be networked in order to provide a comprehensive atlas to facilitate instant decisions during crisis management after natural disasters.

Highlighting the inequitable distribution of various basic services to the Indian population, he said space technologies could play a pivotal role in marginalising this vast divide in education, health and natural resources apart from the increasing digital divide.

With the space systems rapidly progressing to meet societal and technological challenges, he said it was imperative for the changes in the future with regard to institutionalising and commercialising the space establishment by involving increasing private participation.

"There is a definite transition towards increasing industrial activities in the space segment in the future, and it would be important to develop global competence alongside a vibrant space industry," he said.

He said the main aim of developing frontier space technologies was to enhance the quality of human life by kindling a spirit of exploration and expanding the horizons of knowledge to create capabilities for progress.

He said it was ISRO’s mission to develop frontier space technologies with application relevance to the society. This would require promoting basic reasearch," he added. (PTI)

All India Youth Congress demands "universalisation of education"

CHANDIGARH, Jan 4: All India Youth Congress has demanded "universalisation of education" and constitution of a "national curriculum board" to ensure a sense of "oneness and a spirit of integration" and a separate five year plan with a dediacted budget purely for "employment generation".

"Youth Congress is concerned about the inequalities of the education system owing to difference in methodology, curricula and pattern followed by various boards of school education in the country. We demand ‘one nation-one-education’," AIYC president Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here. He alleged the NDA Government has failed in all fronts, saying they had "promised one crore jobs a year before coming to power, but abolished ten lakh jobs, due to which serious unrest is prevailing among our youth".

He demanded a special session of Parliament for employment generation and a separate five-year plan with a dedicated budget allocated purely for employment generation purpose.

Stating that ‘Rashtriya Yuva Divas’ on January 12 will be observed as ‘Adhikar Divas’ by the Youth Congress, he said the NDA Government during its over three years of rule has also failed to protect "national security, national honour and national character".

"On that day (Jan 12), we will organise rally at Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi, which among others will be addressed by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"We will raise and highlight our demands and the failure of the NDA Government on all fronts. Today, the very integrity of our nation is in danger," Surjewala alleged.

Surjewala said his party was also concerned about the "gap between the rural and urban youth owing to a variety of socio-economic-environmental factors."

"We demand that the youths passing matriculation from village schools and fulfilling the conditions of a minimum of five years study in the village school upto matriculation level should be compensated by percentage point weightage system in matters of admission to higher education courses as also in the matters of all employments," he said. (PTI)

NDA stages state-wide dharna for Rabri Devi’s removal

PATNA, Jan 4: NDA constituents and the CPI(ML) today staged dharnas all over Bihar demanding dismissal of the Rabri Devi Ministry for alleged "lawlessness and police brutality" in the killing of three students in an alleged fake encounter on December 28 and during yesterday’s bandh.

Workers of BJP, Samata and JD-U sat on dharnas in different places in the state with placards against the "misrule" of the State Government.

The main dharna was organised by the NDA at the feet of Jaiprakash Narayan’s statue here.

NDA leaders, including former Union Minister C P Thakur, state BJP president Nand Kishore Yadav, his Samata counterpart Raghunath Jha, JD-U Legislature Party leader Ganesh Prasad Yadav, Samata Legislature Party leader Umashanker Singh, besides opposition leader in State Asssembly S K Modi launched a vitriolic attack on the State Government for its "failure" on all fronts.

The leaders accused the RJD regime of unleashing a reign of terror, corruption, anarchy and chaos and said the Chief Minister had lost the moral right to continue in office.

Charging the State Government with patronising "criminal" and "corrupt" officials and policemen, they said law and order had reached the nadir with people feeling totally insecure, while kidnapping had emerged as an industry in the state.

Urging the Centre to immediately dismiss the State Government, Modi said that none, including the family members of the Chief Minister, MLAs, MPs and bureaucrats were safe. Modi alleged that development work had come to a standstill with rampant "irregularities" in execution of centrally-sponsored welfare schemes.

The CPI-ML (Liberation) organised separate dharnas and burnt effigies of Rabri Devi at various places across the state, CPI-ML(L) office secretary, Prabhat Kumar told PTI here.

Activists of the All India Students’ Association and Revolutionery Youth Association actively participated in the programmes led by senior party leaders.

In the state capital, CPI-ML(L) activists marched to the Dak Bunglow roundabout from their state party headquarters shouting anti-Government slogans.

Kumar said the Chief Minister had lost the moral right to continue in office and should immediately step down.

He also demanded immediate arrest of the policemen involved in the "fake" encounter and institution of murder cases against them.

"There is no need for an inquiry either by the CID or by the CBI. It has been established that the incident was a cold-blooded murder and the guilty policemen must be brought to justice," he said. (PTI)

Justice Phukan to head Inquiry Commission on Tehelka expose

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Retired Supreme Court Judge Justice S N Phukan was today appointed as head of the commission of inquiry to probe into the Tehelka expose alleging corruption in defence deals.

Justice Phukan, who hails from Assam and retired last year as a judge of the Supreme Court, would take the place of Justice K Venkataswamy who resigned in the wake of a controversy over his simultaneous appointment as Chairman of authority on advance rulings on customs and excise.

Justice K Venkataswami had resigned on November 23 from both the new post as well as the chairmanship of the commission inquiring into alleged irregularities in defence deals after the opposition in Parliament charged that his new appointment had compromised his position as the head of the Tehelka probe.

The appointment of Justice Phukan ends the two month old search by the Government to fill the vacancy to head the commission, which had been in limbo since then.

Earlier, the Law Minister’s request to the then Chief Justice G B Pattanaik to recommend the name of a retired Judge of the Supreme Court for the panel did not evoke any response.

The then Chief Justice consulted Justice Manoj Mukherjee and Justice K T Thomas in a bid to persuade them to accept the assignment but both refused to take it. Justice Pattanaik wrote to the Law Minister telling him that no retired Judge was willing to take up the post due to the controversy whipped up by political parties.

However, he had told the Government that it was free to choose a retired judge as it was not mandatory for the Government to seek the recommendations of the Chief Justice of India.

Thereafter, the task of finding the new Chairman of the Inquiry Commission was taken up in consultation with the Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, official sources said.

Phukan, who also heads the Assam State Human Rights Commission after his retirement as a judge of Supreme Court, is scheduled to take over as Chairman of the Inquiry Commission later this month. (PTI)

Political bonhomie marks Khurana’s
new year get-together

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: The arch foes of Delhi politics — Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and state BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana — had a pleasant tryst at the latter’s residence even as the two dropped ample signals of a fierce electoral battle in the Assembly elections this year.

The Chief Minister, who was one of the invitees at the new year get-together hosted by Mr Khurana, a former Chief Minister, exchanged gentle sparrings in the presence of media persons.

While political bonhomie flowed on the lawns of Mr Khurana’s official residence with a high-profile invitees constantly trooping in for the occasion, the two leaders did not lose any chance of scoring political points against each other.

"Are you dieting?" quizzed Mr Khurana to Ms Dikshit who preferred not to have anything of the sumptuous delicacies except a glass of water.

"No, I am not on dieting, but just flexing my muscles," quipped the Chief Minister. However, on repeated requests from Mr Khurana she had a mouthful of "Golgappas".

Replying to persisted queries from mediapersons, Ms Dikshit said there was no politics involved in her decision to come for the get-together. "I have just come to wish him a happy new year."

Reciprocating the sentiments of the Chief Minister, the senior BJP leader said, "she is like my sister off the political arena. Every sister has a right to come to her brother’s house whenever she desires. There is nothing political about it."

Asked if he was willing to grant all the wishes of his sister today, Mr Khurana said: "Barring one, I can fulfil all her desires." His indirect hint was to the Chief Minister’s post after the Assembly elections.

When the Chief Minister was asked what did she demand from her brother, she was quick to reply: "I will put my demand only on the day of Rakshabandhan."

A beaming Mr Khurana held that there could be political differences on solving problems,"but all of us are committed to providing a better delhi to the people."

Among the high-profile guests were Lt. Governor Vijai Kapoor, Delhi Police Commissioner R S Gupta, National Sports Council of India Chairman Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Member of Parliament Lal Bihari Tiwari, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani’s wife Kamala Advani and leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi. (UNI)

10 top NRIs to be conferred with Bharatiya
Samman awards by PM

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat Shridath Ramphal and Nelson Mandela associate Fatima Mir are among the ten prominent Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) chosen for the first pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards.

The prestigious awards to be conferred by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on January nine, 2002 here will also be given to Malaysian Minister of Works Dato’seri S Samy Vellu, Rajat Gupta of McKinsey, US, Lord Navnit Dholakia, Dr Manu Chandaria of Kenya, Ujjaal Dosanjh of Canada, Kanakbhai Khemja of Oman and Hari Leela of Hong Kong. The awards, announced by the External Affairs Secretary J C Sharma, are being conferred on the recommendations of the high-powered committee on Indian diaspora headed by the noted jurist L M Singhvi.

The Ministry of External Affairs in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising the three-day event entitled "Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ (PBD) beginning on January nine. The event to be opened by Mr Vajpayee will be attended by a galaxy of NRIs including Professor C K Prahalad of the US, nobel laureate V S Naipaul and Aman Mehta, CEO of HSBC, Hong Kong.

Mr Sharma said while 1200 registerations have been confirmed, the figure of the NRIs assembling in the capital for the PBD is likely to reach 1500."This is for the first time that NRIs from 60 countries will gather at one venue to discuss the entire gamut of issues", he said.

Dr Singhvi said PBD would not be a one-time event but would be celebrated as the national day for the Indian diaspora throughout the world every year on January nine. The date has a historical importance since it was on January nine in 1915 that Mahatama Gandhi had returned home from South Africa after 21 years. FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra said the organisers have engaged a company for handling the interpretation work for many of the NRIs who know neither English nor Hindi. "Over 250 French-speaking people and 90 Dutch-speaking NRIs will be here," he said.

Dr Singhvi said the high-powered committee on the India diaspora had made several recommendations to the Government covering the issues of importance to the NRIs. These include the ticklish issue of dual citizenship, education, health, science and technology and investment. The committee had suggested setting up a commission on the lines of the Planning Commission which would reach out to the diaspora and create a permanent mechanism to address the issues of concern to them.

He said "the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a whole, leave alone from NRIs, was much below the potential as compared to the inflows to China."

The FICCI secretary general said one of the objectives of the PBD was to convert the NRI remittances which would be of the order of 12 billion dollars into investments. (UNI)

Rabri Devi orders CBI probe into encounter

PATNA, Jan 4: In a bid to stem political opposition following large-scale violence, the Bihar Government today decided to hand over to the CBI the investigation of last Saturday’s killing of three youths here in a fake police encounter.

Announcing this at a crowded press conference here Chief Minister Rabri Devi said the CBI would also probe the killing of two persons at Manjhaul in Begusarai district by the police in a case of mistaken identity on December 23.

The Government would fully cooperate with the central investigating agency, she said.

The Chief Minister said the CID investigation into the killing of the three youths already underway would continue till the CBI took over the case.

RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav, who was present at the hurriedly-called press conference, said a sinister attempt was being made by the Centre and the NDA to create confusion over institution of the CID inquiry.

"We want the truth to come out even though we don’t doubt the sincerity of the state agency (CID) .... There was no attempt to hush up the matter," he said.

Yadav said the Government did its best to bring to book the police personnel involved in Saturday’s encounter. The Sub-Inspector of Shastrinagar Police Station had already been arrested and remanded to judicial custody, he pointed out.

Rabri Devi said the State Government had already announced ex-gratia payment of Rs five lakh to the families of each of the three victims.

Blasting the NDA for trying to politicise a human tragedy she said "Yeh Log Lash Par Rajniti Ki Roti Sek Rahe Hain (they are playing politics over bodies).

"Yeh Log Sarkar Ko Gherna Chahte Hain Jis Mein Yeh Safal Nahin Honge (they want to corner the Government, but will fail) she said charging opposition parties with instigating violence in the aftermath of the encounter at Ashiana Nagar. The RJD chief said the Government would send a letter to the CBI later this evening requesting it to take over the probe.

He admitted that initially the police tried to portray the killings as an encounter and even the media was misled.

"However, when we smelt that there was something fishy about the conduct of the police we acted swiftly ordering a CID inquiry and suspending policemen involved in it," Yadav said.

The RJD leader charged the NDA with trying to provoke police action by instigating local people to indulge in violence. "I thank the police force for maintaining restraint in the face of such provocation."

He brushed aside the allegation by leader of the opposition Sushil Kumar Modi that he suffered head injuries in police lathicharge during yesterday’s Bihar bandh.

"I dared Modi to show his wound in a TV programme yesterday, but he refused ..... If at all he is injured why did he shy away from showing his wound?Y yadav asked.

Earlier in the day, the Congress, a coalition partner in the Rabri Government, demanded a CBI inquiry into the Ashiana Nagar and Manjhaul killings.

BPCC president Shakeel Ahmed, who faced criticism by a section of his own partymen, including two members of the Legislative Council, Mahachandra Prasad Singh and Shivnandan Singh, for his "callous silence" over the encounter, demanded a CBI probe. (PTI)

Agenda should not come in way of Ram
Temple construction

CHENNAI, Jan 4: The VHP today said that the NDA Government’s agenda for governance should not come in the way of constructing the ram temple at Ayodhya and accused Prime Minister A B Vajpayee of backtracking on his promise of finding a solution to the issue.

"The NDA’s agenda is not an excuse for not constructing the Ram Temple," VHP international vice-president, S Vedandam, told reporters here.

He said that the VHP had given a written undertaking to abide by the intiatives taken by Jayendra Saraswathi, the Kanchi Mutt Seer, on the Ayodhya issue after Vajpayee declared in Parliament that he would solve it. They had withdrawn the letter only after tGe government went back on its words, Vedandam added.

He regretted that the BJP had not taken any steps to "fulfill" its commitment to its vote bank, while other NDA constituents had gone ahead with their own agenda.

Asked whether the recent war of words between VHP and BJP leaders amounted to a rift among Sangh Parivar outfits, he said the sangh parivar was "unhappy" over the BJP’s "inaction". "Our claims and integ overlooked", he said.

Vedandam said that the VHP and other Sangh Parivar outfits had not achieved anything after the NDA Government assumed power at the centre. "If the BJP, which came to power on the strength of the Hindu vote bank, does not take care of them, who will do so," he asked and said the BJP had an obligation to its vote bank.

Asked whether the VHP was raising the temple issue with an eye on elections to nine State Assemblies, he said "we are not concerned by the elections, but more about the Ram Temple". One state or the other was going to the polls every year, he said.

"We cannot postpone our demand for the sake of elections. The polls should not come in the way of construction of the temple", he said.

He said the Centre should return the undisputed land, purchased by the VHP and wait for the court verdict on the ownership of the disputed site at Ayodhya.

Lauding Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for bringing in the anti-conversion law in the state, he said she was fully protecting the interests of Hindus.

Even the AIADMK founder, the late M G Ramachandran, had been sympathetic to the plight of Hindus and had introduced the noon meal scheme for school children, thereby preventing them from going to churches for food. "This itself was to prevent religious conversions," he added. (PTI)

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