Ahmedabad, Apr 1: On the day when Gujarat's chief minister Narendra Modi was appointed as a member in the BJP's national parliamentary board, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat refrained from making controversial statements in his brief address at the Hindu Sangam, organised by the VHP at the Kankaria football ground on Sunday. He, however, did call for construction of a "glorious Ram mandir".
"Soon we shall take up mass recitation of 'Vijay Mantra' for Ram temple. We will have to build good, honest and true Hindus in Bharat, because, now the whole world will be following Hindus," Bhagwat said at the Hindu Sangam.
The RSS chief was the chief guest at the function. Bhagwat announced that from April 11 to May 13 VHP members will carry out chanting of Vijay Mantra all over India to pray for the construction of the temple. Bhagwat also expressed the need "to imbibe true Hindu values and adopt the Hindu way of living by adopting Hindu language and appearance".
The function started an hour late at 12 noon. Later, many supporters from all over the state gathered at the venue to attend the function which lasted till 4pm.
Bhagwat focused on talking about the lifestyles that Hindus should follow. "Our Hindu ideology should guide all community members in their way of living and talking."
VHP's international working president Pravin Togadia took indirect digs at Narendra Modi but refrained from making any allegation. In a veiled reference to Modi's recent attempts to build bridges with minority communities in Gujarat, Togadia, without naming anybody, said: "Any one who embraces minority communities for vote bank politics do not deserve to form a government or represent the public."
VHP's Gujarat chief Dilip Trivedi added: "There are some leaders who grabbed power using the name and cause of Ram temple but are now busy propagating their own image and dreaming big for themselves."
Togadia added that in the next few months the VHP planned to enroll 51 lakh members in Gujarat and 25 crore in India. "We have to work for prosperity and security of Hindu community at large. Globally this community is at the receiving end. In foreign countries often youth of this community who go there for further education are targeted and murdered owing to lack of unity among Hindus. These days everybody gets away with abusing this community."
He also spoke about plans to launch a new movement called "Hindu Ahead for Hindu Security and Prosperity" which aims to reach out to the majority community. In 2015, the VHP will complete 50 years of existence.
'We feel cheated'
As the VHP held a mega meet here, those accused in post-Godhra riots were not happy with the organization's attitude towards them and their family members. A group held a public meet near Civil Hospital on Sunday and vented their anger at the leaders who "did not care to see how we live".
Dr Atul Vaidya, former city president of Bajarang Dal, told reporters that police had picked up many youth from areas around Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patia who were accused in these cases of rioting by the Special Investigating Team formed by the Supreme Court to probe the riots.
"Most of these youth belong to the lowest rung of society and they find it difficult to make ends meet. They have been ostracized from society with no support system in place. I don't want to name any person but the youth were used and abused by people to achieve a purpose. After it is achieved, nobody botheres about their condition today. We feel cheated," said Vaidya.
The group members, including family members of the riots accused, said that no VHP leader visited them in need of the hour. Thus, holding a meet to celebrate the religion in the city is meaningless, they stated.
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