Author: PTI
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: April 28, 2002
VHP vice-president Acharya Giriraj
Kishore on Friday sought a clear definition of the word minority in the
Constitution saying the special protection given to the religious and linguistic
minorities under Article 30 was having an adverse impact. Talking to newspersons
at the Karsewak Puram, the Acharya said that under these provisions the
minorities got more rights to set up educational and other institutions
and urged the Union Government to give more clarity to the definition of
minority.
The Acharya also urged the Centre
to extend the purview of the National Minority Commission to Jammu and
Kashmir and provide minority status to Hindus in that state.
He chided the so called secular
parties in the country and said they were speaking only in favour of the
minorities, while more than 300 Hindus were killed in violence in Gujarat
he pointed out that the actions of these parties were leading to polarisation
on communal lines and warned of a 1947 like situation of partition if nationalist
parties failed to deal with the situation.
About VHP's future approach on the
Ayodhya temple issue, the Acharya said it will be discussed at the meeting
of Margdarshak Mandal at Hardwar on June 22-23 next.
He said he was opposed to the proposal
of further acquisition of land in Ayodhya in the name of security as that
was unnecessary and results in problems for the people. He welcomed the
efforts of Jagatguru Shankaracharya Swami Jayendra Sarswati in resolving
the Ayodhya issue through negotiations.