By Krishna Jha
Ram Mandir was built on the debris of Babri Mosque. When the centuries old Mosque was dismembered by karsewaks on December 6, 1992, in the clear visibility of BJP leadership, the nation was shocked. It appeared to be a major blow to India’s secularism and pluralism even though the process had begun on December 22, 1949 when idols were surreptitiously planted in the Babri Mosque. Also the shock was intense in 2019 when Supreme Court allowed the construction of temple at the site where once Babri Mosque stood.
Now the temple itself has been stigmatized with ‘Embezzlement of Ram Temple Trust Donations’ by the same breed of iconoclasts. Just as in 1949 and in 1992, in the aftermath of the two incidents, Hindutva forces tried to spread lies to cover their tracks and twist the narratives, so they are doing now. Having committed robbery in the temple and having played with the faith of common masses, they are now trying to whitewash their crime by enacting an investigation drama of unprecedented type.
After almost for three weeks of the alleged loot and the embezzlement of crores of rupees donated by the devotees to the Ram temple, no FIR was filed. All this period, in total disregard for the established legal process and only after an outcry, the government appeared conducting an FIR-less investigation by setting up Special Investigation Team (SIT), which held meetings in closed doors and prepared confidential reports. One can only guess how these three weeks might have been utilized by the major culprits to secure their position.
And on June 26, when the FIR was finally filed, it made the farce pretty obvious. The eight individuals who were named in the FIR are all lowly staff of the temple trust involved in counting the donations made to the temple. These include Avinash Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, his brother Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, a driver working for one of the counting staff, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav and Subhash Srivastav.
Champat Rai, the RSS man in charge of the all donations and the management of the temple as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, and the powerful trustee Anil Mishra, another important RSS man, were not even named in the FIR. They were in the eye of the storm regarding donations theft right since beginning of the controversy. After a massive outcry, they resigned from their positions in the temple trust, but they have still not been arrested.
It appears as if the investigation is keeping the trust and its linkages with the higher-ups beyond suspicion even as the allegations point to the contrary. These allegations are serious and involve looting of huge amounts of money. Many suspect that the amount involved may be in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 1,400 crore. There has also been deletion of CCTV footage, involvement of counting staff close to trust members and in violation of rules at different levels. It is also alleged that 1,250 bricks made of gold and silver have vanished without explanation, making it part of the loot.
Whatever we hear or come to know, there is no reply to the question what is new in it? It all started back in 1949 itself when in the night of December 22-23 that year, the idols were surreptitiously placed under the central dome of Babri Mosque. It was one of the biggest treachery committed in the modern Indian history. It was the theft of faith and the conspiracies were thatched by same followers of Hindutva. At that time, too, huge offerings came including gold jewelries, money etc and along with that started more theft committed at large scale. Those in the know underline several facts.
The strategy of occupying Babri mosque was in the hands of Hindu Mahasabha then. Those involved in loot, theft and even sacrilege, were not from among opponents of Hindus, they were themselves Hindutva supporters supporting the very idea of Ram Mandir. But their interest was exclusively centered around the offerings. It is also significant to bring in the light that whenever money was raised in the name of Ram Mandir, it also initiated a series of clashes and no proof of innocence was produced by those incriminated.
Also no one had believed them. In 1949-50, Hindu Mahasabha was so deeply engaged in collecting money hugely pouring in the name of Ram Mandir that their Ayodhya strategy started failing. While it is beyond anybody’s imagination that Ram will be used so brazenly to steal money, Sangh Parivar does have an uninspiring track record in morality, transparency and accountability. The RSS ceaselessly talks about character-building but in practice, there is no sign of it. Its affiliates like the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal have not yet presented any shining example of honesty and morality.
UP Chief Minister Adityanath, instead of following the established investigation pattern, went to the extent of calling the allegations of financial misappropriation at the Ram Mandir a coordinated conspiracy to defame the temple. “We have waited 500 years to reclaim the site of Lord Ram. We have waged this struggle for five centuries while remaining within the bounds of propriety. Just wait another 15 days. Be patient. Do not worry. However, we should not, under any circumstances, be misled by those who seek to defame Ayodhya or insult the Ram Janmabhoomi temple,” he said.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was formed by prime minister Narendra Modi on the instructions of the Supreme Court in February 2020. Bureaucrats, politicians and saints close to the Sangh Parivar were accommodated in the trust, with Champat Rai acting as the general secretary. If theft of such mind-boggling dimensions has been reported from the temple, the Modi Government and the Sangh Parivar cannot evade responsibility. Nor can it escape by calling the allegations a conspiracy to defame Ayodhya or Ram temple. (IPA Service)
