Acharya Giriraj Kishore, secretary-general of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, announced that he was giving Union Home Minister L.K. Advani "six months", starting 7 August to improve his performance and the working of the home ministry. ..

The BJP is the political wing of the RSS, the mask. The heart is the RSS. One of the arms is the VHP, the umbrella organisation of Hindus across the world, which safeguards their rights. The BJP can be seen to be making the occasional compromise for political reasons. But the VHP, which spearheads the mass (Hindu) movement is the militant wing which makes sure the party does not stray from the path of righteousness. It also serves to remind the Hindus who they are.

Technically, Advani is the home minister of India. For the VHP, he is a leader who must be upbraided if he is not following the RSS's agenda.

When VHP president Vishnu Hari Dalmiya issued a statement strongly criticising the government for its inability to stop the killings of Hindus in Kashmir, it was to tell the world that the VHP was concerned about the Hindus, even if the BJP, in power, wasn't. Even if the home minister was L.K. Advani.

The VHP had no realistic expectations of a Hindu revolution during Vajpayee's prime ministership. But they did tell their followers that Hindus would be better and conspicuously better - looked after while Advani was home minister.

So the VHP feels ... that it has been used to start agitations that others - like the BJP - have taken over. Take the Ram mandir movement. The agitation to get the locks broken on the te nple was started by the VHP and it was later hijacked by the BJP to pull down the V.P. Singh government.

... The VHP and the BJP may trade charges, but finally they are part of the same family. If the Hindu cause is 'betrayed' but the BJP, the VHP will highlight  this to protect the BJP from allegations of 'failure'.

In the last four months, apart from the bomb, what has the BJP done for Hindus or India? Nothing much. The RSS' view is that apart from Murli Manohar Joshi, no minister has done anything to pursue the agenda of the RSS ... For an organisation which believes that the systemshould be overhauled and weighted in favour of the Hindus, there is no evidence of this happening.

So attack the government to make up? Not quite. But .. to stave off criticism and retain your militant Hindu following.

... There is a sense of grievance. When the VHP was set up ... the executive set up a programme to 'energise' the Hindus. The first programme the VHP took up was Ganga pujan: bottles of Ganga jal were sent all around the country in villages and towns to tell the Hindus that the Ganga was the source of all that was holy.

This was followed by the Ramjanambhoomi agitation, which was in three phases: The first one started with an 'open the lock' campaign. This was followed by the Ramshila pujan programme (the consecration of the bricks with which the temple would finally be built). The third was the asthi pujan: the puja of the ashes of those who died in the firing on the Saryu after the demolition of the Babari mosque.

Because the Ramjanmabhoomi programme was such a hit the VHP continued its other programme: Mathura, Kashi ... However, the Mathura agitation to reclaim the temple and Krishnajanmabkumi couldn't take off because during Advani's presidentship of the BJP, he denied that the BJP had any programme to get Kashi and Mathura back.

Meanwhile, the NRI community which finances the VHP to a very large extent, and wlich has helped to create a huge corpus of funds for the Ram mandir, is asking questions: when will the temple be built?

Every controversy over building the Ram mandir has the effect of strengthening the VHP.

... The VHP was wondering what it could take up to keep its workers busy, when it struck Kashmir.

... Where Hindus are being massacred and the BJP seems to be able to do nothing to prevent this. This VHP sees in Kashmir the potential for a major political movement: not just the protection of Hindus, but the protection of the rights of Hindus.

In a paradoxical way, by criticising Advani, the VHP has managed to protect him. Giriraj Kishore has said that he is giving Advani six months to set things in order in Kashmir. This is a signal to Hindus to create an atmosphere where the government can take draconian measures in Kashmir and pin it on the VHP.                            (Source: The Week, 23-29 August, 1998)

I have three specific suggestions for Indian Muslims. First, they should consider India their motherland. Second, they should honour the cow as their mother. Third, they should honour Lord Ram as their forefather.                                                        - Ashok Singh, VHP Leader