Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | RSS, VHP Should Disown Ayodhya’s Champat, Anil
Had Rai, the two Mishras and Rao have been either members of the Congress or any other party, the BJP/RSS troll army, including their official spokespersons, would have called out loudly and hoarsely that the Congress and others were corrupt parties
Three of the main accused in the Ayodhya temple donation theft case -- Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Lavkush Mishra -- are known to be connected with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its subsidiary organisation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. And the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, as at the Centre, belong to the group of right-wing Hindu outfits, generally known as the Sangh Parivar. That is, they are affiliated to the parent body, the RSS. The theft of donations can be dismissed as a regular pattern that happens in all places of Hindu worship across the country. But the corruption is then traced back in each case to the individuals and organisations involved in the matter. Logically, the RSS and the VHP should be in the dock on moral grounds, and the BJP should be paying a political price because of its ideological connection with these two organisations.
It is natural then that UP chief minister Adityanath is now pretending that it is a case of regular theft, which the police and the courts will handle, trying to gloss over the deep organisational connections between the RSS, VHP and the BJP, and by extension to the Bajrang Dal. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale gave a statement as though it is a crime that has nothing to do with the RSS, while Rai, Anil and Lavkush Mishra, and Mohan Rao (from the RSS Karnataka unit) are all Sangh folk. Of course, Mr Hosabale can play the usual Houdini trick by saying that there is no such thing as RSS membership, and that there are no RSS cardholders as in the case of the Communist parties.
Had Rai, the two Mishras and Rao have been either members of the Congress or any other party, the BJP/RSS troll army, including their official spokespersons, would have called out loudly and hoarsely that the Congress and others were corrupt parties. By the same token, the RSS, VHP and BJP should face the brunt of corruption charges in the donation theft matter for individuals connected with their organisations. It is understandable that as a defensive reaction. Yogi Adityanath and Mr Hosabale should distance themselves from the organisational affiliations of Rai and the Mishras. It is plain now that the RSS, VHP and BJP have individuals with a propensity for corruption, like any other organization. Mr Hosabale should have the moral courage to state publicly that the RSS will take care not to recruit individuals like Rao and the Mishras in future because RSS does not want morally tainted individuals. It is not convincing on the part of the RSS office-bearer to pretend that Rai and the Mishras have nothing to do with the RSS, when the RSS and BJP are not willing to make the same distinction between corrupt individuals and the parties and organisations they belong to.
Mr Hosabale should also perhaps clarify whether the RSS is in the business of constructing temples and administering them, if not directly then through its subsidiary, the VHP. That would clear the confusion about what the RSS really is. It calls itself a nationalist organisation, and when asked about its registration, its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, says that there is no registration for Hinduism, thus collapsing the Hinduism into RSS, which is quite illogical. There are more Hindus who do not either recognise or belong to the RSS than the few Hindus who are within its fold. The RSS should stop fooling around with identities to escape social and legal scrutiny. Hinduism is older than the RSS and the VHP, and there are individuals and organisations who are engaged in constructing temples and in administering them. Of course, the RSS and VHP can join the crowd as it were, and say that they too are into the business of constructing temples, and that they are the ones in charge of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Why are there so many individuals linked to the RSS and VHP in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust? What are their credentials? They are not religious and they are not spiritual. They know nothing about temple administration.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke the dividing line between the State and religion when he laid the foundation of the temple, and again inaugurated the opening of the temple, not in his individual capacity but as the Prime Minister of the country. It was seen as a political plan to win the election in 2024, which was the first general election fought after the construction of the temple. Of course, it did not work. Uttar Pradesh did not reward the BJP for the temple construction, nor did the rest of the country.
The BJP ended up as a minority party in the Lok Sabha in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. It is now remedying the situation through the defections in the Trinamul Congress after the BJP won the West Bengal Assembly elections in May. So, it looks like the BJP has left behind the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, which had remained part of its core political agenda, along with the abrogation of Article 370 and the setting up of the Uniform Civil Code. Ayodhya’s political dividend had dwindled for the BJP two years ago. It is the RSS and VHP who are left holding the Ayodhya temple baby. As the RSS and VHP do not contest elections, they have nothing to lose.
The Ayodhya temple has been a political issue since the late 1980s, and the construction of the temple was part of the BJP’s political agenda, supported by the RSS and VHP. The political goal has been achieved once the temple was built, so the temple does not have political value any more. The counter-offensive launched by the BJP, RSS and VHP at various levels, that no one can point out any corruption in connection with the management of donations to the temple, is sheer brazenness. They cannot say that those who opposed the temple cannot question the corruption that has come to light in connection with the temple because the temple, the BJP, RSS and VHP are all in the public domain. This is no private matter that pertains only to the ostensible Sangh Parivar. The most conspicuous political issue — the construction of the Ayodhya temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid — is caught in a controversy that has moral implications for the entire Sangh Parivar.