WHAT is one to make of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s speech regarding the raking up of new temple/mosque disputes? In his speech in Pune on December 19, Bhagwat disapproved of the raking up of new temple/mosque disputes. He said that Ram temple was a matter of faith for Hindus. Construction of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya, which was a matter of faith for Hindus, should not lead to further actions. In conclusion, he said “Every day, a new matter (dispute) is being raked up. How can this be allowed? This cannot continue”.
This speech has led to varying interpretations. Some have seen it as an important change of stance of the RSS towards historical wrongs committed in the past of temples being demolished to build mosques in its place. Others have been more skeptical and think Mohan Bhagwat is trying to mislead by covering up the actual position of the Sangh in raising such disputes.
It would be naïve to view this speech of Bhagwat as an about-turn in the stated position of the RSS. For clues as to what Bhagwat actually meant, one should go back to an earlier speech made by him in June 2022. In a speech to RSS cadres in a training camp in Nagpur, Bhagwat had decried the need to find a ‘shivling’ in every mosque and start a new dispute every day. He explained that the RSS had joined the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in a specific situation and due to some historical reasons. He then stated that, “We completed that work and now we do not want to pursue any more agitations”. He then dwelt on the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute, where he stated everyone involved should sit together and find a way with mutual consent or the decision of the court should be accepted by all considering the justice system as supreme. He set the Gyanvapi mosque controversy in the historical context when Islam came to India with invaders and temples were destroyed.
The BJP-RSS position has been that the temple/mosque disputes in Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura are to be resolved in favour of the Hindus. If this is done, then other disputes need not be taken up. What Bhagwat meant in the speech is that the Ram temple agitation was unique with the RSS actively participating in the movement leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Gyanvapi mosque dispute is also relevant, but there should be no agitation. It should be resolved by mutual consent between Hindus and Muslims or by a court decision. The same would apply to the Eidgah-Krishna temple in Mathura.
The current speech of Bhagwat is within the framework of that 2022 speech. He talks of the Ram temple movement as an one off. Now that the construction of the temple at Ayodhya is done, there should be no agitations for other temple disputes. There are legal proceedings going on with regard to the disputes in Varanasi and Mathura. Beyond that, the RSS chief does not want new temple/mosque controversies to be raised and agitated upon. But there is an obvious gulf between what Bhagwat proffers and what is being actually done on the ground.
After his 2022 speech asking that no shivlings be looked for in every mosque, a number of legal disputes have been opened up in different states with suits being filed regarding the religious character of various mosques. Altogether there are seventeen such litigations going on, including the latest ones in Sambhal regarding the Shahi Jama Masjid and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan.
Bhagwat, in his Pune speech, has said that no one will become a “leader of Hindus” by fanning a communal divide. By this Bhagwat is waning off those fringe elements outside the RSS ambit not to take precipitate action. Bhagwat knows that sections of the judiciary are now conniving with allowing litigation on disputes on religious places contrary to the law on the matter, which is the Places of Worship Act 1991. He expects that the disputes in Kashi and Mathura can be resolved in favour of the Hindus through the judicial process. His faith in the judicial process is not misplaced knowing how the then Chief Justice of India Chandrachud, had allowed the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque to proceed.
Mohan Bhagwat does not want unplanned and maverick actions of raising temple-mosque disputes all over the country, which can lead to violence and disorder as it happened in Sambhal. The RSS chief is vested in the Modi government governing smoothly and taking the Hindutva agenda forward in a calibrated fashion. With the various organs of the State increasingly coming under the influence of the RSS, the goal of taking over the Varanasi and Mathura sites peacefully and in a “legitimate” fashion seems possible. Ill-planned and anarchic actions would be counter-productive. Bhagwat is setting out a course of action without undermining the basic Hindutva agenda.
Stick to the original three at present; other “historical wrongs” can be set right later when the Hindutva regime is consolidated. That the “battle for civilisational justice” is not given up is made clear in the latest issue of the RSS mouth piece “Organiser” which has put the reclaiming of the Sambhal temple on its cover. This is plain double-speak.
It is in this connection that the case before the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act 1991 becomes crucial. The Court has put a stay on all legal proceedings in lower courts on such disputes. It has asked the government to file it counter-affidavit to the writ petitions in four weeks time. So far the government had avoided doing so. How the centre responds will provide a clue on what the BJP-RSS strategy is on the matter. Only the Supreme Court can nip the mischief in the bud by not only upholding the Constitutional validity of Act but also enforcing it.
(December 25, 2024)
