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The participation of tribals from various states in the VHP movement in Ayodhya has baffled UP police officers. During raids at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya on October 15, the police were surprised to see tribals in saffron robes with trishuls in their hands. Tribals were also a major phenomenon during the communal riots in Gujarat last year.
In Ayodhya, the attention of police officers was drawn to these tribals and they decided to talk to them, but in vain. “We could not understand their language,” said a senior officer.
Sources said the tribals were from MP, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and the North-East.
They added that a large number of tribals had been detained in Ayodhya and at other checkpoints. At some places in eastern UP, they outnumbered activists from the Hindi heartland.
Aware of the poor turnout from the cowbelt areas, the VHP had this time concentrated on tribals through RSS-controlled Vanvasi ashrams. Spread over tribal
regions in various states, these ashrams were set up to counter Christian missionaries.
When detained tribals in Jhansi were asked to go back, they said that they had come with an oath to perform prayer and it would be ashubh (a bad omen) if they returned without doing so.
They requested the police to detain them up till October 17 and release them thereafter so that they could visit Ayodhya before returning home. “They are simple and will not like to go back without a darshan of Ram lalla,” said a police officer.
People from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have also landed in police custody in large numbers in Varanasi, Allahabad and other places.
"While northern participation is
dwindling, southern presence is increasing," said the police officer. Travelling
in buses, many of them were on pilgrimages to places like Mathura, Allahabad,
Varanasi, Ayodhya, Haridwar and other places. But tour operators, allegedly
in league with the VHP, chalked out their itineraries in such a way that
they would have been in Ayodhya on October 17.
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