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Hindu monks to lay siege to Indian parliament
NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- Hundreds of Hindu monks and leaders will march to India's parliament to protest against the government for not allowing them to build a temple on a disputed site also claimed by Muslims. The march is a part of a new campaign by hardline Hindus who want to build a temple to the god Ram on the site of a 16th century mosque demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, triggering nationwide religious clashes that claimed about 3,000 lives. The march comes two days ahead of elections in four states set for February 26 and will be the start of what is seen as a drawn out agitation over the sensitive issue. "All sadhus (monks) will march to parliament tomorrow and lay siege to it. It is time for action," Acharya Dharmendra, a senior leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is spearheading the agitation, said on Sunday. "But we will be peaceful and stop if we are prevented from reaching the building. This will be a mild example of the fury raging within Hindus (over the temple issue)," the monk told a public meeting of more than 5,000 people, mostly holy men. A religious council of Hindu leaders and saints decided on Saturday to hold nationwide rallies followed by meetings in villages and towns to woo support for building the temple. The council passed resolutions on Sunday demanding the government ban traditional Islamic schools across the country which they say they breed militants, as well as ban the slaughter of cows, which Hindus consider sacred. It also demanded the government ban religious conversions and expel all foreign missionaries who it says influence poor and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity. The VHP, a hardline affiliate of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is leading the campaign to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a town 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of New Delhi which is believed to be the birthplace almost a million years ago of Ram. The BJP on Friday asked India's Supreme Court to lift a ban on religious activity near the disputed site, saying that would help resolve the row. The court adjourned the case until March 6. Critics and analysts say the BJP, which won a crucial state election in western Gujarat in December on a hardline Hindu platform, wants to cash in on the dispute ahead of a series of state polls leading up to a national election due in 2004. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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