Source: Hindustan Times
SHIMLA, INDIA, September 17, 2002: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad yesterday criticized the remarks of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New York that Gujarat riots were a “shame” for the country and said what had happened in the State after the Godhra killings was “not a matter of shame, but a matter of pride.” There were other more “important” issues like migration of hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley which the country should be ashamed of and the Prime Minister should have focussed on such issues also, VHP National Secretary Surendra Jain told reporters on September 16. Contacted directly by HPI, Jain confirmed that he had been quoted correctly. He also said that the number of madrasas (Islamic schools) had multiplied from 464 in 1947 to one hundred thousand now and alleged that Dev Bandh in Saharahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh was emerging as one of the biggest centers of Islamic fundamentalism. Referring to the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, he said the temple was already there and no one could remove it. He said it was not only a temple but “a symbol of our determination to fight oppression and atrocities.”