Bhojshala tense: VHP refuses to blink on namaz on Basant Panchami

Mhow: Dhar continues to be tense in run-up to Basant Panchami as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists continued to hold prayers outside Dhar's Bhojshala as part of protests against the order allowing both Hindus and Muslims to offer prayers at the controversial shrine on February 12.
State minister in charge of Dhar, Narottam Mishra, visited the site to take stock of security, two days before celebrations which coincides with Friday namaz (salat-al-jumma).
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which maintains the shrine, which houses the only temple dedicated to goddess Saraswati and built by Raja Bhoj in 1034 AD, has made arrangements for Hindu prayers in the complex from sunrise till noon and 'namaz' by Muslims from 1 pm till 3 pm on Basant Panchmi. Currently, Hindus offer prayers at Bhojshala every Tuesday, while Muslims offer namaz every Friday at the Kamal Maula dargah adjacent to the temple.
VHP men claimed namaz could not be allowed in Bhojshala on Basant Panchami when a yagna will be in progress. Neither can the yagna be stopped once it is started, they claimed, triggering a deadlock.
Police and RAF personnel have converted Dhar into a fortress with security personnel from neighbouring districts also deployed in the city. Minister Narottam Mishra, who held meetings with senior officers, reiterated chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's commitment that puja and namaaz will be allowed simultaneously on February 12. "Nobody will be allowed to take law into their hands," he told reporters.
His statements did not go down well with protesting Hindu activists, who burned an effigy of the chief minister at Ghoda Choupati.
Mishra along with state BJP organizing secretary Arvind Menon, later held a meeting with the protesting leaders, who are believed to have refused to back down.
The minister and BJP leader also visited the hosue of Bhoj Utsav Samiti convenor Vijay Singh Rathore in Kashibag and held closed-door meetings with RSS pracharak Gopal Sharma and VHP leader Ashok Jain. While meeting was in progress, rumours about black-flag protests by Hindu hardliners spread across the town. Heavy police force was deployed at Rathore's residence.
ASI decision and state government's stand has also angered BJP MLAs, who claim they cannot ignore popular sentiments. Badnawar MLA Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (BJP), who reached Dhar on Wednesday, openly criticized government's moves on the Bhojshala issue. He alleged the government is going for short-term solution, but such attempts will damage a permanent solution to this dispute.