India should not become a battleground: Singhal

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, SEPT. 15. The working chairman of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad International, Mr. Ashok Singhal, told presspersons here today that while he welcomed the global initiative to combat terrorism, India should not allow itself to become a battleground.

Mr. Singhal was here to accept felicitations from the State units of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal on his completing 75 years.

Asked whether India should react positively to the U.S. effort to fight against terrorists based in Afghanistan, Mr. Singhal said it was for the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, to decide on the country's response.

He would not comment on whether the conflict would assume the overtones of a battle between Muslims and non-Muslims. On the position of Hindus in what was developing as a clash between Christians and Muslims, Mr. Singhal said: ``Hindus have no position in the conflict''.

He said Osama bin Laden had been propped up by the U.S., initially, and it was only now that they were confronting each other.

Mr. Singhal reiterated that the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya would begin on an auspicious day before Shivaratri day on March 12, 2002. He said it was for the `acharyas' to decide on a date. He did not expect any legal or political hurdles, he added one killed in firing.

One person was killed when police opened fire to quell violence which left 18 persons, including policemen, injured during a procession organised by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal here today, police said.

Trouble erupted near a place of prayer of a community as the procession wound its way to the venue of the function. A police jeep, a car and two autorickshaws were set on fire and some shops looted in the violence. Police said miscreants pelted stones on them and when lathicharge and teargas shells proved ineffective, they resorted to firing. One person who received bullet injuries died in the hospital.

Curfew was imposed following the violence. The Commissioner of Police said that night curfew had been clamped as a precautionary measure.

- PTI, UNI

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