Jalandhar - After facing a wrath from Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) activists, BJP firebrand leader Ms. Uma Bharti faced another setback recently when she came across some agitated Christians who held a demonstration criticising her 'Tiranga yatra' in Punjab.

The activists of the Punjab Christian Movement, opposing the 'Tiranga Yatra', raised slogans, ''go back Uma Bharti''.

Led by the organisation's president Hamid Masih and carrying black flags, the activists were stopped by police at some distance from the Circuit house where Ms Bharti was addressing a press conference.

Mr Masih said the 'Tiranga yatra' of Ms Bharti was not a 'yatra' to spread message of peace but was aimed at ''fanning communalism and hatred'' in the country.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) activists had recently stoned the 'yatra' in Rajpura after Ms Bharti entered Punjab.

The 'Tiranga Yatra' was a journey that stretched over 3,000 km across eight states. Ms. Bharti started her journey by carrying the national flag for 15 days from Hubli in Karnataka and concluded at the historic Jalianwala Bagh in Amritsar.

The Tiranga Yatra was meant to "let the nation discover the (qualities of the) Tricolour" and enable India develop into a super power.

Each of the three colours of the flag represented the innate qualities and attributes of the nation, which needed to be tapped, she said. The yatra, she said, was aimed at promoting nationalism.

However, many remained skeptical about her motive and accused her of attempting to ignite communal hatred and sectarian violence. In fact, because of this apprehension, Ms. Bharti had to court arrest in several states.



Surojit Chatterjee
Ecumenical Press