The Hindu
Sep 10, 2006
Rajasthan withdraws case against VHP functionary
Special Correspondent
Case relates to charges of attempting to spread communal discord
JAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in Rajasthan has withdrawn yet another case against a senior functionary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad relating to charges of attempts at spreading communal discord.
After allowing an FR (final report) in the charges involving VHP's international general secretary Pravin Togadia in the "trishul diksha" case of Ajmer in April 2003, the State Government now has chosen to put an FR in the case of Acharya Dharmendra, a member of the organisation's central advisory committee (Kendriya Margadarshak Mandal).
The case, filed in Bhilwara district's Badnor police station, pertained to the Acharya's alleged attempts at inciting communal passion in the area in 2003. An FR was filed in the case after the State Government turned down a request from the local police to issue a challan in the case. The police, in their FR submitted to the court, said the charges against the Acharya were "misleading".
"The withdrawal of the cases would create a sense of insecurity among the minorities in the State," says Kavita Srivastava, general secretary of PUCL, Rajasthan.
"This step is part of the Hindutva agenda of the BJP, RSS and VHP. PUCL will challenge it in court."
Once the cases were filed against Dr. Togadia and Acharya Dharmendra there had been a let-up in their activities in the State, she says, expressing fear that the latest step might lead to communal discord in the State.
"The decision is an open invitation to the communal elements to come back and start their activities once again," said Dushyant Ojha, secretary of the Communist Party of India, in a statement here.
"It is condemnable that persons like Dr. Togadia and Acharya Dharmendra who had openly defied laws and challenged the provisions of the Constitution are allowed to go scot-free," he noted.
"This is also an open interference by the State Government in the law of the land taking its course."