So near yet so far

By Sarabjit Pandher

AMRITSAR, NOV. 2. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, who is here in connection with the Bharatiya Janata party's national executive meet, could not visit the Golden Temple, the Durgiana Mandir and the Jallianwallah Bagh today.

Addressing a gathering here, which he described as ``something between a meeting of party workers and a public rally'', Mr. Vajpayee said he would concentrate on international issues in his speech. But during his visit to the ``holy city'' on November 18, when he is scheduled to participate in the function related to the bicentennial of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he would not only share his views on domestic issues, but also pay obeisance at the holy shrines and homage to the martyrs.

However, sources said it was the district administration and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which had expressed reservations over Mr. Vajpayee visiting the Golden Temple in view of the large influx of devotees, including those from foreign countries, during the ongoing three-day celebrations related to the `Gurpurab' of Guru Ram Das, who founded this city.

Most of the BJP delegates led by the party chief, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy, visited the Golden Temple early today. The policemen and SGPC volunteers were seen handling devotees at the shrine quite roughly. They exchanged verbal duels with media representatives, who tried to bring the matter to the notice of the SGPC chief, Mr. Jagdev Singh Talwandi. As about 13,000 additional security personnel had been requisitioned for deployment, people faced problems with many roads remaining blocked for most of the day.

The security personnel seemed paranoid. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, was stopped at the staircase leading to the hall where the party meeting was on as the guard did not have his name on the list of dignitaries to be allowed in. A similar situation was ``just'' prevented when another party general secretary, Ms. Maya Singh, was stopped in the lobby.

An interesting aspect of today's meeting was the stress laid by the organisers on raising the Sikh battle cry of ``Jo Bole So Nihal - Sat Sri Akal''. But this seemed to have provoked some party workers to shout ``Jai Shri Ram''. The president of the party State unit, Mr. Brij Lal Rinwa, created a stir, when he referred to Mr. Vajpayee as ``Hindustan da Badshah'' (Emperor of India).

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Section  : National
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