Vishwa Hindu Parishad held Sankalp March in Delhi

|HT|

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other right-wing organisations held a Sankalp March on Saturday morning through the heart of the city, between Mandi House and Jantar Mantar, forcing the traffic police to block several important road stretches for vehicular movement and issue an advisory for the commuters. The participants of the rally said they were protesting the recent targeted killings and attacks on Hindu residents in places such as Udaipur(Rajasthan) and Amravati(Maharashtra).

President of Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Adesh Gupta and local party leaders Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga also attended the protest and shared videos of the march on their social media handles.

Carrying the tricolour and shouting slogans, the protesters said Hindus were being threatened.

At the Sankalp march, Kapil Mishra said, “There are lakhs of people who are here today. It is a peaceful march.”

Kapil Khanna, president of VHP Delhi, said there were around 100,000 people from different organisations, and added that they will continue to hold such peaceful protests. “ All religious organisations had come together for the march. It was a peaceful one because we believe in the rule of law,” he added. Though there was no official count, police officers on the spot said there were more than 15,000 people.

During the march, police urged citizens to avoid at least ten important stretches such as Sikandara Road, Barakhambha Road, Copernicus Marg, Feroz Shah Road, Bhagwan Das Road, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Tolstoy Marg, Sandad Marg -- from Outer Circle Connaught Place to Patel Chowk -- and Janpath -- from Outer Circle Connaught Place to Windsor Place roundabout. Only pedestrian movement was allowed on these roads.

Amrutha Guguloth, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) said the organisers of the Sankalp rally had conditional permission to hold the march.

A senior police officer said the organisers were told to ensure no burning of effigies and no provocative statements.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)