Won't give an inch of land to Vedanta: VHP

Vowing not to give an 'inch of land belonging to Lord Jagannath of Puri' for the proposed Vedanta University in Orissa, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international secretary General Pravin Bhai Togadia on Wednesday said his outfit would fight tooth and nail to protect the 'land of the Lord'.

"We vehemently oppose the move of the Naveen Patnaik-led government to hand over thousands of acres of land belonging to Lord Jagannath and the VHP. I will lead nation-wide protests if the Orissa government fails to respect the sentiments of crores of Hindus," Togadia said.

The VHP leader, who arrived in Rourkela on Tuesday on a two-day visit to the steel city, attended the VHP training camp organised by its state unit.

Stating that Vedanta has taken up the project to build an university in Orissa which is funded by a foreign agency run by church, the VHP leader charged, "The agency wants to set up a Vedanta University in our country to fulfill their agenda but Naveen Patnaik should not play into their hands."

Demanding the arrest of 'the real culprits' in the Laxmananda Saraswati murder case, Togadia alleged that the Orissa government lacked interest in nabbing the killers.

"I was not allowed to enter Kandhamal during my last visit to Orissa. I just wanted to hold talks with the people there. But the Naveen Patnaik government did not allow me to enter Kandhamal while foreign nationals of European countries were allowed," he said.