ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Opposition blasts BJP for 'plan' to liberate Sufi shrine in Karnataka

The Opposition took the government to task in the Lok Sabha today for encouraging rath yatras by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its frontal organisations to liberate the Budangiri shrine in Karnataka.

Through such acts the government was destroying communal harmony and encouraging forces against the unity and integrity of the country, they said.

Raising the issue during zero hour, P Shiv Shankar (Congress) said it was a matter of great shame that the BJP and its sister organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal were engaged in such acts. The constitutional scheme to keep the country cohesive and united was being shattered, he said.

Minorities were not safe under this government and many were leaving their villages for safety. The deteriorating law and order situation would spread to other areas, he said.

Shiv Shankar said the entire House should condemn the yatras sought to be taken out for the ''liberation'' of the Sufi shrine.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report