Pravin TogadiaVHP general secretary Pravin Togadia spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla onSeedhi Baaton his trishul diksha campaign, Pakistan and his time in jail.Q. What is your reaction to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani criticising your campaign? A. I am not bothered about what people say. I believe that the main reason for the current state of terrorism is Muslim fundamentalism and its financial supporters. India or the world cannot be free from terrorism until strong action is taken against Pakistan.Q. So, don't you support A.B. Vajpayee's friendly initiative? A. In a democracy, one has the right to disagree. I support what is in the national interest.Vajpayee's idea of national interest might be different from mine.Q. How do you define democracy? The right to distribute tridents? A. This is India and we have every right to distribute tridents. If we cannot do it here, do we have to go to Pakistan for that?Q. Why do you always speak so harshly about Pakistan? Why do you provoke people? A. If a person puts tilak on his forehead is it a provocation? A trident is the same thing. Have you heard a single incident of a trident being used to kill someone? While AK-47s are being distributed, a symbolic distribution of tridents is considered a crime. Militants in Kashmir go scot-free while we are considered anti-nationals.Q. You have already gone to jail for pursuing your plans. You had to apply for bail. A.Yes. Some people are acting like Aurangzeb. Instead of anti-nationals in Kashmir being booked under POTA, they are charging me with sedition. As for the bail, we never said we would not seek release. We are followers of Shivaji, not Gandhi. We will keep fighting for our cause.Published By: AtMigration Published On: May 19, 2003 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---
