Hindu saints attending a Sradhanjali Sabha organised in memory of late Swami Laxmananda Saraswati in Bhubaneswar on Saturday
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Bhubaneswar (Orissa): The Sradhanjali Sabha to pay homage to the VHP leader Swami Laxmananada saraswati passed off peacefully on Saturday at PMG square in Bhubaneswar.
About 100,000 people, including thousands of mendicants, women and youths, walked in processions to the spot where the meeting has organised.
Speakers paid homage to Swamiji and his four followers who were killed by unidentified attackers Aug 23 at Jalespeta ashram in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.
Fire rituals were organised at the venue before the public meeting.
Saffron flags were seen fluttering in many parts of the city as activists raised slogans against the government for failing to arrest the people involved in the Kandhamal killing of the VHP leader.
On this occasion Ratnakara Chaini, one of the speakers, said that if the state government fails to nab the culprits by Dec 15, they will intensify the protest and organise a state wide shutdown on Dec 25.
Earlier the ministry of home affairs had objected to the rally fearing that it may raise communal tension. But the state government allowed the Swami Laxmananda Saraswati Sradhanjali Samiti to hold the rally after assurance that the samiti would conduct it peacefully.
The state government had deployed at least 1,500 policemen in the capital and positioned security forces around city churches and Christian establishments.
