ALLAHABAD: Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Ashok Singhal on Sunday described the Cobrapost sting operation as a ‘bundle of lies’ and said that it wanted to step into the shoes of Tarun Tejpal, who was in the habit of raking such controversies.
“Cobrapost should know that a 400-year-old building constructed hastily from the debris of a demolished temple does not require a bomb explosion for demolition” he said and claimed, “It only required a push by bamboos and that’s all.” Singhal termed the expose as an “attempt by the Cobrapost to malign the image of BJP leaders ahead General Elections.
He further questioned the authenticity of the expose by stating that a number of Commissions looked into the turn of events leading to the demolition and not a single witness came forward to report use of petrol bombs. While speaking about VHP’s role in campaigning for Narendra Modi, Singhal said, “During Kumbh 2013 in Prayag, the saints had unanimously supported Modi. The same voice was heard from other platforms of the saints and seers, so the VHP would certainly work to ensure Modi’s victory.”
Rejecting the assertion that the saffron outfits believed in violence, Singhal said that only three forces in the world believed in violence and had never waivered in perpetrating it openly or covertly. He named these forces as Islamic Jihadists, Communist Maoist Naxalites and Salvation Army of the Churches. “Organizations of these outfits are pro-active in the North-Eastern states of the country,” he claimed and added that ”’Bharatiya’ mindset had never believed in these violent, unjust and unethical organization”.