'Shobha yatra' will be taken out in Mewat on Aug 28, no need of administration's permission: VHP
New Delhi, Aug 26: Weeks after its procession came under attack and was stopped in Haryana's Nuh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday said a "shobha yatra" would be taken out in the area on August 28 and asserted there was no need to obtain permission from the administration for such religious events.
The organisation, however, said it would inform the administration about the procession and was open to discussion on its form and size as "we do not want to cast a shadow on a G20 event", scheduled in Nuh in the first week of September.
The Haryana government on Saturday ordered the suspension of mobile Internet and bulk SMS services in Nuh district till August 28 in view of the call for the procession.
Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas when the VHP procession was attacked by a mob on July 31.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said the yatra would be taken out by the Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat, not the VHP.
"Sarva Hindu Samaj has decided to take out and complete the yatra.... We also do not want to cast a shadow on G20 event in any way. We are ready to discuss with the administration about the size and form of the yatra to be taken out on August 28," he said.
He also appealed to people of other areas of Haryana to take out similar yatras in their respective localities and not join the one in Mewat.
"We have given a call to people to ensure that no one from outside Mewat come and join the yatra there on August 28," he said.
VHP working president Alok Kumar will join the yatra along with others from the organisation, he said.
Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, who is the president of Sant Samiti, and other "revered" sants and seers will lead the yatra, he added.
"A decision has been taken that Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat will take out Jalabhishek Yatra on August 28 as scheduled. There is no need to obtain a prior permission of administration for taking out such a religious yatra," Jain told reporters here.
"Does anybody take permission for Kanwar Yatra or Muharram procession....administration is only informed about such events. Accordingly, the administration will just be informed about the Jalabhishek Yatra," he added.
The Nuh authorities had recently denied permission to hold the religious procession on August 28.
Jain hoped that the yatra will remain "peaceful", claiming that Muslims of the area have offered to cooperate.
Addressing the press conference, khap panchayat leader Arun Jeldar claimed that leaders of both Hindu and Muslim communities met on August 18 to discuss the matter and offered their cooperation in completing the yatra peacefully.
"At the meeting, they also said that what happened the other day should not have happened. They also said such things should never happen and offered their cooperation in taking out a peaceful yatra. They even offered to shower flower on the yatra route," Jeldar told reporters.
In view of the yatra call, Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur presided over a meeting with senior officers of bordering states through video-conferencing on Saturday and called for a coordinated effort to effectively deal with the situation.
In the meeting, attended by senior police officers of Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Kapur said the administration has denied permission for the yatra due to a meeting of the G20 Sherpa Group, scheduled to be held in Nuh during September 3-7, and to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the July 31 violence.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
