Ram Mandir saga: devotion meets disillusionment

It was 1989, and the days were just as humid and stifling. My colleague and I were sitting with Mahant Lal Das, the main priest of Ayodhya Ram Mandir. We were discussing the Ram Mandir Movement and its future.

Mahant Lal Das was visibly livid. He believed the movement’s direction and approach were flawed and could spark social discord. He didn’t deem it appropriate to demolish the Babri Masjid or move it elsewhere. Incidentally, after meeting him, we met Acharya Giriraj Kishore. At the site, we were astounded to see a huge pile of bricks “brought from every corner of India” to build a bhavya mandir (grand temple). The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the entire Sangh Parivar were “moving mountains” to realize their future ambitions with single-minded focus.

The meeting with Acharya Giriraj Kishore turned out to be very interesting. I bluntly asked him as to how he could indulge in “demolition and construction,” ignoring the sentiments of 12–14% of the country’s population. The question was tough but Acharya remained unruffled. In a smooth, soft tone, he said it wasn’t an ordinary temple. Lord Ram’s temple will usher in ‘Ramrajya’ in the country. In Ramrajya, there’s equality and no discrimination among people. We kept probing him for long but not for once Acharyaji lost his cool. He remained steadfast and calm like a rock.

Today, when a controversy is raging about the alleged theft in the Ram temple, I am reminded of Mahant Lal Das and Giriraj Kishore. Both had identical devotion and faith but differing approaches. Today, after 37 years, when I dive deep into the details of both the interviews, I realize they both ended up as failures. Lal Das couldn’t prevent the Babri Masjid demolition. Later, the Kalyan Singh government removed him from the Ram temple in 1992 for financial and administrative mismanagement. The following year, he was murdered. Giriraj Kishore lived long. But, had he been alive today, his vision of Ramrajya would have been shattered.

Let me remind those who may have forgotten: India at that time was a battleground of competing ideologies. Karsevaks were coming from all parts of the country. At that time, Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was determined to demonstrate his ability not to let “a sparrow sneak into Ayodhya.”

The Sangh Parivar initiated many steps to win over the majority to its side. Appeals were made to the homemakers to go to the terrace in the evening to beat plates to inspire people. Before 1980, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ wasn’t used as a popular greeting. Instead it used to be ‘Ram Ram’ or ‘Siyaram.’ In Braj Pradesh (Mathura region), they used ‘Radhe Radhe.’ It was clear that change was knocking at society’s door.

Amidst all this, in November 1990, a skirmish between the police and karsevaks led to a police firing, killing 17 karsevaks and injuring more than 100. For the movement, this was the turning point. Mulayam Singh was decimated in the following assembly elections and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Kalyan Singh rode to power in Lucknow. Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination propelled Narasimha Rao as the prime minister in 1991. How could an experienced politician like him fail to gauge Kalyan Singh’s motives?

Numerous rumours and conspiracy theories circulated widely.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) changed its strategy. Once their government was at the Centre, there was no need to remain belligerent. So, now they took the legal route. On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court’s ruling cleared the path for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2024. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied him during the consecration ceremony. Did the success of a long, hard struggle and surging faith have to end in such ignominy?

Recently, polling agency C-Voter did a survey that said 86% of the respondents felt the allegations of theft in Ram Mandir are very serious. Surprisingly, 53.7% of supporters the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) insist that their trust and faith had been shaken by the incident.

The only solace is that people still trust Modi and Yogi Adityanath to act swiftly and impartially. It’s an issue of faith. It’s the faith that propelled Ram devotees for centuries to struggle to rebuild the temple. Strict action against the perpetrators, along with a transparent system for the future, is the only way to restore shaken trust.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.