Addressing a joint press conference here, VHP supremo Ashok Singhal and Secretary General of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti Swami Hansdas declared that a movement would be launched in protest against the arrest of Yogi, "a people's representative and highly popular religious leader".

Swami Dharmdas, who is also the Mahamandaleshwar of Bada Panchayati Udasin Akhara, said a meeting of the Sant Samiti has been convened tonight, where a decision would be taken regarding the course of action to be adopted by saints.

He said saints from across the country would soon visit the communal violence-hit Gorakhpur and put up a resistance against "the suppression of Hindus, who have been in the majority, yet rarely treated with respect by governments".

He also warned that Hindus, who had been gravely offended by the "ill-treatment meted out to Kanchi Sankaracharya in the name of investigations," would not take the Gorakhpur incident lying down and that the Uttar Pradesh government will be responsible "if the community takes to aggression, shunning its peace-loving approach."