AYODHYA, Jan 21: Thousands of Hindu activists and religious figures set off on Monday on a 600-kilometre procession to New Delhi to push their demands for a temple to be built on the remains of a mosque razed nine years ago by Hindu zealots.

The procession, organized by the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), began in the northern town of Ayodhya, site of the Babri mosque.

The convoy is scheduled to reach Delhi on Saturday, where the organizers will hand a memorandum to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee demanding the government hands over a large plot of land around the disputed religious site so that plans to build a Hindu temple on the mosque’s ruins can get off the ground.

Some 2,000 people were killed in communal riots that followed the destruction of the 16th century Babri mosque in Dec 1992.

The VHP, which has close links to Vajpayee’s Hindu nationalist BJP, has been spearheading a campaign to construct a temple to Ram on the site, and have set March 12 as the deadline for the federal government to give the green light.

“We have given ample warning to the centre and all our decisions were announced a year back,” said regional VHP secretary Ambrish Singh.

“We can’t help the emotional build-up this (procession) is creating. Ours was never an overnight decision.”—AFP