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Togadia distributes tridents in Delhi; slams prime minister's peace initiative
May 04, 2003 20:53 IST
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Pakistan policy and his views on Hindutva.
Participating in a trishul diksha programme in Delhi, Togadia also criticised the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi.
"We are not bonded labourers of any political party. The trishul diksha is not aimed at making the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] win or the Congress lose," Togadia told hundreds of Bajrang Dal activists in Lakshmi Nagar area of East Delhi.
Urging Vajpayee to punish Pakistan, he said, "We don't want the Lahore bus, Samjhauta Express or Agra talks; we want our military tanks in Lahore, missiles in Rawalpindi and the saffron flag in Karachi.
"Instead of our suffering from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, they [Pakistan] should suffer..."
The BJP and the Sangh Parivar, after a three-day conclave in Delhi, which ended on Saturday, had decided not to criticise individuals and organisations within the Parivar.
In an apparent reference to Vajpayee's Goa musings, Togadia said, "We are being told about Swami Vivekananda's Hindutva. Do I have to learn Hindutva from spineless people who can't defend the county from jihadi terrorists? We will use all means to achieve our final goal of establishing a Hindu Rashtra."
Charging Sonia Gandhi with not loving India, he said, "Had it been so, she would not have banned tridents, which are symbols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga."
He said Gandhi played the role of his marketing guru by 'getting me arrested' and 'giving me countrywide publicity'.
"When you see India through Italian glasses, patriotism becomes sedition and vice-versa," Togadia said referring to the charges slapped on him by the Rajasthan government last month after he was arrested for distributing tridents.
Lauding Congress leader Vasant Sathe's reported advocacy of Hindutva, Togadia said, "Someone like him should head the Congress. We will bow before Congress leaders who respect Hindu sentiments."
Later, Togadia, along with VHP leaders B L Sharma and Naval Kishore Das, distributed tridents to over 5,000 Bajrang Dal activists at the programme, which had come under severe criticism from Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and other Congress leaders.
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