Road and rail traffic across the country, particularly in North India, came to a standstill today as activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal — both affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — blocked roads and railway tracks to protest against the cancellation of land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.
The VHP itself was surprised at the success of its call, having launched several movements in the recent past that either found no public resonance or simply fizzled out.
Rain added to the woes as traffic on all highways leading to major cities in North India, including the national capital came to a halt. Tyres were burnt on railway tracks and boulders placed strategically, leading to delays in train movements across North India.
The blockade was highly successful on the National Highway-34 to the North-East and partially successful on the Bengal-Jharkhand border. Jharkhand has a substantive BJP presence owing to the work of the RSS among tribals. In theory, though it was a nationwide stir, the call for the blocklade was largely ignored in South India.
However, traffic and trains began stopping at around 8.30 am and for about three hours there was mayhem on roads and railway tracks. By 1pm, the traffic cleared up so miraculously as if the disturbance had never taken place. This is one of the most notable successes of the VHP’s public action in the last decade or so.
VHP General Secretary Pravin Togadia said the agitation for immediate transfer of forest land to the shrine board could culminate into a nationwide movement on the lines of ‘Chalo Ayodhya.’
The inconvenience faced by commuters, ambulances and school buses (the latter two were technically exempt from the call) did not bother the VHP one whit. Supporters said they were forced to do this because the only way to sensitise Hindus to the treatment the state was meting out to them.
However, VHP supporters conceded that they were unlikely to mount a similar agitation any time soon for the fear of alienating those very sections they were trying to “sensitise”.
