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Minister quits in a row over Hindu fundamentalism

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FILE - Bal Thackeray, leader of the right wing Hindu Shiv Sena party, addresses a press conference, in Bombay in this Sunday July 16, 2000 file photo.The Congress party coalition government in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Saturday recommended prosecuting Thackeray for anti-Muslim statements that he made eight years ago, which incited riots in Bombay following the Babri Mosque demolition by radical Hindus, in north India. (AP Photo/Sherwin Crasto)

July 20, 2000 

NEW DELHI (AP) - In an apparent game of power play, a federal minister belonging to a Hindu party quit the prime minister's Cabinet Wednesday over plans to arrest his volatile leader for inciting violence against Muslims, news reports said.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee immediately rejected the resignation of Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister Suresh Prabhu, of the Shiv Sena party, who gave his resignation letter in New Delhi, United News of India news agency reported.

Two other ministers of the Shiv Sena party also said they would meet the prime minister later in the day to hand over their resignation letters, Heavy Industry Minister Manohar Joshi told reporters in the capital.

The Shiv Sena is part of the coalition led by Vajpayee. It is the main opposition party in the western state of Maharashtra, of which Bombay is the capital.

The state government in Bombay has been planning to arrest Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray after he wrote a newspaper article eight years ago, which police said encouraged violence against Muslims. A new state government came to power last year, determined to review cases involving Shiv Sena.

More than 800 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Hindu-Muslim clashes in Bombay in 1992-93, following the demolition of a mosque in the town of Ayodhya.

The resignations are seen as Thackeray's attempt to pressure the federal government to fire the state administration or urge it to stop the proposed arrest.

The Shiv Sena is controlled by Thackeray, an acerbic politician who has been widely blamed for provoking hostility against Muslims.

V.K. Patil, Minister of State for Finance, left, and Manohar Joshi, Minister of Heavy Industry, leave Joshi's house in New Delhi Wednesday July 19, 2000 on their way to turn in their resignations. The two, along with Chemical and Fertilizer Minister Suresh Prabhu, turned in their resignations to protest the imminent arrest of Bal Thackeray, the powerful leader of the Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena. (AP Photo/Ajit Kumar)

The prime minister is unlikely to accept the resignations of the other two ministers, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Manohar Joshi.

"I'm sending my resignation to the prime minister because it seems that the state government has taken steps to arrest Thackeray," Manohar Joshi said to reporters after a routine meeting of the federal cabinet.

He said Junior Finance Minister B.V.K. Patil would also resign from the government.

In Bombay, thousands of paramilitary soldiers and police fanned out across the city, fearing large-scale violence if Thackeray is arrested. No violence was reported immediately following the resignation.