16

Jan

Is Ram Temple at Ayodhya a political project ?

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Today’s Edition

New Delhi, 16 January 2024

Satish Misra

The consecration ceremony of the still under-construction temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is going to take place on January 22 in the presence of carefully chosen audience including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with great pomp and show.     

For the first time in the history of free India, such a spectacle is being enacted which has been hogging media headlines for over a month and could continue to remain in media for many more weeks as the issue is going to occupy the space impacting the outcome of the general election in an unprecedented way.

While the ruling BJP backed by its mentor RSS is leaving nothing to chance to use the launch of the Ram temple for influencing the voting behavior of the Hindi heartland particularly, only final tally of seats in the next Lok Sabha elections expected to be held on April-May this year will reveal whether the strategy of the ruling saffron establishment delivers expected results or not.

The strategy to milk the issue was prepared immediately after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the disputed Ayodhya issue was delivered on 9 November 2019. The apex court had ordered the disputed land to be handed over to a trust to build the Ramjanmbhoomi temple. 

Way the trust had been constituted in February 2020 and selection of its members was made is a clear enough indication that the project had to be completed by the time next general elections came in 2024. Inclusion of four IAS officers as ex-officio members of the Shri Ram Jamnbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was done with the goal of ensuring that no administrative or legal delays don’t occur in completion of the project in time. While the one IAS officer had to be a Secretary and above designation in the state government, the second is from the Central government above the Joint Secretary designation and the third was the District Magistrate of Ayodhya. Icing on the cake was former Principal Secretary of Prime Minister Modi Nirpendra Mishra who was made the chairman of the construction committee of the Trust.

How crucial Nirpendra Mishra is to the project can be understood the way his appointment as Principal Secretary with the rank of a Cabinet ranks was made. Mishra, a UP state cadre officer who had served as the chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, had been picked up from his retirement by Modi in 2014. Since provisions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997 did not allow a former or sitting chairperson to hold any other post in the government, the Modi government ensured Mishra’s appointment by first bringing an Ordinance and then by amending the law itself.   

However, despite best efforts the construction of the temple is yet to be completed. Secretary of the Trust Champat Rai had told a news channel on December 16 last year that while the ceremony will take place on 12 noon on January 22 since the sanctum sanctorum is ready along with the idol, but it could take another two years for the entire temple to be constructed.

The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is almost ready and the Uttar Pradesh town is going through an infrastructure overhaul ahead of next month's grand opening. Lakhs of pilgrims are expected to visit Ayodhya to witness the idol of Lord Ram being placed in the sanctum sanctorum, Rai had said. A lot of work (on the temple) still remains. Construction could go on for another two years".

Now if the Ram temple was not a political project, consecration of any temple that is still under construction and is yet to be comleted, according to scriptures like Yejurved, Markendey Puran and Harvansh Puran, can’t be done and should not be done. Moreover, religious authorities including four Shankaracharyyas have said that January 22 chosen for consecration is not auspicious.

An obvious question that arises in the above background is then what is the tarrying hurry for the consecration? Answer is not hidden even to an ordinary eye. Even a commoner knows that if it is not done now then the ruling BJP cannot exploit the issue for winning the Lok Sabha polls.

Media, the BJP propaganda machinery including its social media department and covert organs are leaving no opportunity to call every political leader who dares to decline the VHP invitation to attend the consecration ceremony as anti-Ram or Ram-drohi.

The political strategists of the ruling establishment had particularly trained its guns on the Congress and that is why invitations had been sent to UPA.( Words 785)     

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