NEW DELHI: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will offer ‘shraddhanjali’ or last respects on Tuesday evening to the deceased sants who lost their lives in Shiv Sena ruled Maharashtra’s Palghar. However it remained mum on the murder of two seers in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district.
VHP Secretary General Milind Parande will offer ‘shradhanjali’ by lighting a lamp at 7 p.m. at the VHP headquarters in Delhi’s RK Puram. A message from the VHP says this is “to pay tribute to the immortal souls of the revered saints and their driver”.
Other senior members of the organization will also take part in the event, which is claimed to be brief and keeping social distancing norms in mind.
Meanwhile, the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha and the VHP have jointly given a call for a ‘Satvik Protest’ on Tuesday in remembrance of the victims of the Palghar lynching. The two organisations have requested people to skip a meal on April 28 apart from lighting a candle. A poster too is being issued by two prominent seers — Kalpavriksha Giri Maharaj and Sushil Giri Maharaj. It explicitly mentions that the “silent campaign” is intended to be against the Palghar lynching.
The senior BJP leadership including its National General Secretary Ram Madhav and all powerful National General Secretary (Organization) BL Santosh too tweeted saying they are taking part in the “Silent Campaign”.
However, the VHP has been silent so far on the killings of sants in Uttar Pradesh’s Buladshhar.
While both the Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh administrations have insisted that the killings in the two states have no communal undertones, the VHP seems to believe just one. The Palghar lynching is reasoned to be the effect of identity confusion where the villagers thought the sants were thieves.
Meanwhile, SSP Bulandshahr Santosh Singh said that one person has been detained. He had stolen an article from the two sadhus and the latter had scolded him. The Bulandshahr Police has clarified that it appears to be a case of revenge where the accused was in an inebriated condition.
When contacted, VHP Spokesperson Vinod Bansal said he would “tweet” his comments about the Bulandshahr murders, but hasn’t done so yet. There hasn’t been any official statement on this murder from the VHP, as yet, either.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said: “Terrible ! Killing of two saints , sadhus at a temple in bulandshahr, UP ; but I appeal to all concerned to not make it communal the way they tried to make Palghar, Maharashtra incident.” Its Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took potshots at “keyboard warriors”.
The Shiv Sena is in power in Maharashtra along with the Congress and the NCP.
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