Hindu activists vow to swamp Ayodhya

Hindu activists vow to swamp Ayodhya

INDIA: Despite a security clampdown, Hindu activists vowed on
Tuesday to press ahead with a plan to converge on the northern
Indian town of Ayodhya for a campaign to build a controversial
temple.

"Thousands are planning to go. Some of them have reached near
Ayodhya, while others will be reaching there soon," Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP -- World Hindu Council) president Vishnu Hari
Dalmia told AFP.

"We will continue with the program despite the arrests. We
will brave police firing or if they try to beat us with sticks,"
he added.

"We wanted to perform the whole thing in a very orderly and
peaceful way, but the government does not want it to happen that
way. Our democratic and religious rights are being banned."

The hardline VHP has said that more than 200,000 Hindus from
all over India would assemble in Ayodhya on Friday to attend
sankalp diwas (Resolution Day) and stage a demonstration for the
construction of the temple.

The VHP is spearheading a campaign to build a temple on the
ruins of the Babri mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992.

The demolition of the 16th century mosque sparked nationwide
riots in which about 2,000 people were killed. -- AFP