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GUWAHATI, INDIA, November 5, 2004: Hundreds of VHP protesters went on a rampage in Guwahati after police tried to stop them from holding a march to protest the demolition of two ancient Hindu temples by the civic administration. The protesters ran through the streets pelting stones, burning tires and smashing a bus before they were arrested. Police have tightened security amidst fears of a communal flare up. Civic officials say the temples had been demolished to facilitate a footpath construction, a rarity in the extremely congested city, adding that they had also received complaints of the premises being used by drug addicts and bootleggers as a safe haven. Defiant activists of the VHP have alleged that Hindu places of worships were being purposely targeted, and vowed to build a new temple at the site. “We will do the purification and then make the temple at the same place. This is our view,” Jyotish Pathak, president of the VHP’s Northeast wing, said. The city bore a deserted look for most of the day and life came to a standstill as shops, schools and offices remained shut due to a 12-hour shutdown caller earlier by the VHP.

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