Anguished saints declare Satyagraha: Call for

Anguished saints declare Satyagraha: Call for

Dilli Chalo

Pramod Kumar

Anguished and disappointed over the slackness on the part of the Central Government in handing over the undisputed land to Ramjanmabhoomi Trust for starting reconstruction of Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya, over 10,000 saints, assembled from different parts of the country at the tenth Dharma Sansad in New Delhi from February 22 to 24, resolved to start the final battle for the Ram temple.

Announcing that it is the last Dharma Sansad to discuss the Ram temple issue, the visibly moved and angry saints declared a Satyagraha beginning March 27. The Satyagraha would be offered in New Delhi. Before the Satyagraha, a countrywide mass awareness programme from March 5 to 24 has been announced during which a select group of 50 senior saints would travel throughout the country and would address over 2000 public meetings. Over ten crore Ramsevaks would fill Sankalpapatras and would resolve to liberate the Ramjanmabhoomi and also for the restoration of the pristine glory of Hindu Rashtra. “This is beginning of the final battle for the temple. During the awareness programme we would expose the Ramdrohis throughout the country. If the obstacles in the way of reconstruction of Ramjanmabhoomi temple are not removed till March 27, we may also go to each Parliamentary constituency to expose the anti-Ram politicians,” declared Mahanta Avaidyanath, president of Ramjanmabhoomi Mandir Nirman Andolan Uchchadhikar Samiti. Former Sarsanghchalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Prof. Rajendra Singh also attended a session of Dharma Sansad on February 23.

To express their anger and to press for their demand the anguished saints staged ‘Sansad Gherao’ on February 24. It was for the first time in history of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement that the saints sat on open streets protesting against the government’s inaction in the cause of Ram temple. “The saints are quite angry and express grave concern over the Central Government’s not fulfilling its March 2002 promise in which it had clearly promised to hand over the undisputed land to the Ramjanmabhoomi Trust as per the 1994 Supreme Court judgment”, says a senior functionary of the Dharma Sansad. The saints warned the government that the slackness in removing obstacles in the way of Ram temple may cost it dearly. At the same time all opposition parties were also cautioned that their opposition to the reconstruction of Ram temple was not in their interest. “It is unfortunate that Parliament has so far failed to find any solution to this burning issue,” said the resolution adopted by the Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) that met in New Delhi on February 21. The resolution called upon people of the country to be prepared for the final struggle for Ramjanmabhoomi temple.

“Vajpayeeji may have some political compulsions, but the saints are free and they will not settle for anything less than the Ramjanmabhoomi temple”, said Swami Parmanand, the convener of Shri Ram Mandir Nirman Uchchadhikar Samiti. He appealed to all the political parties of the country to come forward and take the credit of reconstruction of the temple by helping the cause. “The reconstruction of Shri Ramjanmabhoomi temple is our birthright and we shall have it at any cost. If the Vajpayee government supports the temple, it should hand over all the disputed and undisputed land to the Ramjanmabhoomi Trust by bringing legislation in Parliament. Otherwise the saints may adopt the method to reconstruct the temple, as was adopted to demolish the disputed structure”, warned the Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya of Chitrakoot.

Ramjanmabhoomi Trust President, Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra Das went one step ahead by declaring that whether the government gives the land or not or the court gives its verdict or not, he, with the help of Hindu society, would start reconstruction of the temple anytime after March 25 and would complete the reconstruction of the temple within a year and three months. He also warned that no mosque would be allowed to be constructed at the Ramjanmabhoomi site and any move to this effect would be disastrous for politicians of the country.

The other important decision taken by the 10th Dharma Sansad is the resolution for restoration of pristine glory of India as Hindu Rashtra. The resolution called upon the followers of all religious sects, communities, religious groups, the whole Hindu society and its guiding acharyas, gurus and saints and all the religious, social, cultural and political organisations of the country, to associate and dedicate themselves leaving their prejudices and personal interests, to the restoration of India as Hindu Rashtra and making India Akhand.

“The concept of Hindu Rashtra does not bear any ill-will against any community. It would not only give protection to all forms of worship and would solve most of the problems like pollution, terrorism, etc., but also make India the Vishwaguru. The so-called secularists are the biggest hurdle in the restoration of the pristine glory of the country and the day countrymen understood their discrimination against the majority community, these secularists will have to run away from the country,” warned Jagadguru Ramanujacharya Vasudevacharya. He said there were conspiracies on the part of these secularists to shift India from its original nature, i.e. Hindu thinking. “Don’t beg for Ram temple, for ban on cow slaughter and for making the Ganga-pollution free, as you would not get it by begging. Prepare the Hindu society to fight,” he appealed to the saints assembled at the Dharma Sansad.

The Dharma Sansad also directed the entire Hindu society to work for the protection of national integrity and Indian culture by contributing physically, mentally and economically for the social, economic and medical uplift of socially, economically backward, deprived sections and tribal brothers of their society. This is the most effective method to stop conversions. “The Dharma Sansad is of the firm view that a major part of the money received by Christians and Muslims from abroad is spent on conversions of Hindus. Therefore the Government should act firmly in this regard and at the same time expel from the country all Christian priests indulging in conversions. The tribal identity of the converted people should be cancelled immediately and all kinds of facilities being given to them as tribals be suspended forthwith by amending the Constitution,” said the resolution adopted demanding ban on conversion.

The Dharma Sansad expressed grave concern over the pitiable condition of Hindus in Bangladesh. “Attack on Hindus, their torture, forcefully occupying their land and attack on temples are daily events in Bangladesh. Hindu women are the main targets of the Islamic ‘jehadis’. There are reports of rape of five-year-old to 60-year-old females everyday. There are reports of even cutting feet of those going to temple and mixing poison in the water sources of Hindu localities. Not only this, the Muslim students of Bangladeshi colleges openly threaten their Hindu professors to leave Bangladesh and police remains a mute spectator in all such incidents. Now Hindus there have only three options—adopt Islam which they would not, commit suicide in groups or leave Bangladesh,” the resolution mentioned. Warning the Bangladesh government not to consider Hindus as orphans, the Dharma Sansad demanded of the Government of India to use its powers for stopping atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and reminded the Bangladesh government of the Nehru-Liyakat pact which guaranteed that the protection of Hindus there wasthe constitutional duty of

the Bangladesh government. The saints also posed to the Government of India, why, if the Indian army could go to Bangladesh in 1971 to save Muslim women from the clutches of the Pakistani army, it could not go there now to save the dignity of Hindu women. The Dharma Sansad requested the Government of India to force the Bangladesh government to protect Hindus, by imposing economic sanctions. If our government does not take effective steps the saints may have to direct the Hindu society to stop the supply of all food grains including salt and rice to Bangladesh and if that happens the

Bangladesh government will be responsible for it.

In another resolution the Dharma Sansad said that the over three crore Bangladeshi infiltrators illegally infiltrated into India posed a serious threat to the security and integrity of the country and also a challenge for the economic infrastructure of the nation. “Apart from North-Eastern states and Bengal now this problem has spread in almost all states of the country. The infiltrators are not only involved in different anti-social activities like drug trafficking, trade of illegal weapons, flesh trade, etc., they are also actively working as ISI agents. In certain states they have now developed the strength to the extent that they have started affecting the politics of those states”, opined the Sansad.

According to the Sansad the need of the hour is that they should be thrown out of the country before they capture the Indian Assemblies and Parliament. The Government of India should declare a time-bound programme for sending these infiltrators back to their country and as first step in this regard dismiss the West Bengal government, which is providing them patronage, and abolish the Illegal Migrants Detection Tribunal (IMDT) law implemented in Assam.

At the same time the Dharma Sansad appealed to the Government to differentiate between the Muslim infiltrators and the Hindu refugees coming from Bangladesh. The Dharma Sansad adopted a separate resolution demanding immediate scraping of the IMDT Act as it was the main hurdle in identifying the infiltrators. “The IMDT Act was enacted during the Prime Ministership of Rajiv Gandhi in 1984-85 especially for the protection of the Muslims who illegally entered India. Under this Act the complainant has to prove that that person is a foreigner. In the present circumstances of northeastern region this is quite impossible, as 11 of the 23 districts of Assam and six districts of West Bengal have become Muslim-dominated. Therefore, the border either be sealed or be guarded effectively by any other means,” the resolution said.

In another resolution on Jehadi terrorism the Dharma Sansad called upon the Central Government to express its firm resolve to crush terrorism and ban the mother of terrorism, i.e. the madarsas including Dar-ul-Ulum, Devband, Tablig, Ahal-e-Hadis, Dawat-e-Islam, etc. There must be the provision of death sentence for jehadis. Apart from implementing POTA in Kashmir the government should immediately destroy all the terrorists training camps being operated in Pakistan and Bangladesh. “India is facing Jehadi terrorism for 1300 years. During the last 15 years over 70,000 Indians lost their lives, 60,000 children became orphans, 40,000 sisters became widows due to terrorism. By attacking Indian Parliament, burning train in Godhra, attack on Akshardham temple, Raghunath temple and Sai Baba temple in Hyderabad, the Islamic Jehadis have proved that they are the progeny of the series of medieval Islamic invaders. Undoubtedly all Muslims are not terrorists but most of the terrorists and their outfits in the world are the followers of Islam,” the resolution said.

The saints expressed intense anguish over the present pitiable condition of Indian cows and termed it very unfortunate that the suicidal act of cow slaughter started by the Congress governments was uninterruptedly going on in the country even under the regime of non-Congress governments.

N Satyagraha in Delhi from March 27

N Under the countrywide mass awareness programme, from March 5 to 24, a group of 50 senior saints would address more than 2000 public meetings.

N Over ten crore Ramsevaks to resolve for the liberation of Ramjanmabhoomi and restoration of the pristine glory of Hindu Rashtra

The Central Government under the pressure of the Kanchi Shankaracharya had formed a National Commission for Cattle Protection in August 2001. The Commission submitted its report even before the stipulated date. But government put the report in cold storage. The Dharma Sansad requested the government to implement the report as it is and recognizing cattle as national property, declare the cow as national animal. There must be a separate ministry at the centre for Cow Protection and with the amount of Rs 500 crore it should set up a Central Go Seva Aayog.

The Dharma Sansad also appealed to the government to declare cow-slaughter a non-bailable offence and enact a law with provision of life imprisonment or death sentence for those who indulge in killing cows. Apart from banning import-export of beef, all the mechanized slaughterhouses be closed down.

The Dharma Sansad also expressed anguish over the present pitiable condition of the Ganga. The Ganga, which is regarded as identity of India, has today been converted into a big drain and despite strong opposition from Hindu society, connecting it to the Tehri Dam has blocked the free flow of the holy river. The whole Hindu society is angry over this act of the Government. The Dharma Sansad warned the Government to declare immediate action plan for the restoration of the free flow of the holy river and also declare any act of polluting the holy river as an offence equal to an anti-national act. “The Government, including the State governments, should enact stern laws, programmes and action plans to make other Indian rivers also pollution free,” this resolution said.

The Dharma Sansad also praised the people of Gujarat for their expression of strong will power during the recent Gujarat elections and called upon all Hindu voters of the country to be united by way of strong Hindu citizen power. It also appealed to all the political parties of the country to give top priority to the internal and external security of the nation and interest of Hindu society and give up the policy of communal appeasement and pseudo-secularism.

Mahant Avaidyanath reminded the Hindus of the conspiracies being hatched by certain forces to destabilize the country. Untouchability is the root cause of making Hindus weak. No Hindu shastra has any mention of this evil. He called upon the Dharamacharyas to eradicate untouchability from society and unite the Hindu forces. Only then the practice of ignoring Hindus will stop, he said. Acharya Kishore Vyas from Maharashtra said the reconstruction of Ram temple at Ayodhya would solve most of the problems of the country. He warned the government not to play with the sentiments of Hindus and to remember the fate of the earlier anti-Hindu governments.

Time to expose pseudo-secularists

—Ashok Singhal

“This is a fight between the so-called secularists, who are wreaking the society by dividing it into castes and communities, and the Hindutva forces, which are uniting the society. These secularists are playing with the sentiments of 85 crore people of this country. There is a need to demolish the stranglehold of these secularists as Hindus had demolished the disputed structure at Ayodhya. Only then the restoration of the pristine glory of India as Hindu Rashtra and the reconstruction of Ram temple will begin,” said the working president of VHP, Shri Ashok Singhal.

He warned the government to return the undisputed land of Ramjanmabhoomi Trust, which it had acquired and resolve the issue by bringing in legislation in Parliament forthwith. “It is never in the history that saints had to come on streets to ask anything from the government. They are an anguished lot and are ready to fight decisive battle for the temple. They can collide with anyone coming in the way of reconstruction of Ramjanmabhoomi temple, he said advising the government not to anger the saints any further.

He said there would be no Dharma Sansad in future on the issue of the Ram temple and the saints had resolved to fight till the reconstruction of the Janmabhoomi temple was over. When the Satyagraha would begin from March 27, the senior saints of the country would lead lakhs of Ramsevaks and the Satyagraha would continue till all the obstacles in the way of the reconstruction of proposed Ramjanmabhoomi temple were removed. The saints have resolved that the 85 crore Hindus would now live with self-respect and any hurdle coming in their way would be dealt with an iron hand.

Shri Singhal appealed to the saints and the Hindu society at large to be ready for another Mahabharat with a resolve to completely weed out the secularists along with their roots. “You recognize your strength and moving in every village expose these secularists and at the same time put a check on division of the society on the basis of caste, creed, language or community,” he urged the saints.

Save the saints

in Northeast

—Swami Vishnupuri, Kolkata

The politicians have disappointed us very much. When they needed us, they used us. Now while enjoying power they forgot us. I would like to draw the nation’s attention to one very serious problem that the saints are facing in the northeastern states. Today no saint is safe there. They are facing broad-daylight attack on ashrams and on their lives. The number of saints is declining in that region, as there are conspiracies to vacate the region of Hindu saints who are the major source of inspiration in preserving the Hindu identity among Hindus there. If the steps with regard to the safety of the saints are not taken today, in coming few years, no saint will be found in that region and the Islamic ‘jehadis’ and the Christian missionaries would succeed in their game plans. The infiltration has also created population imbalance in the region and needs immediate attention of both the government and the senior saints of the country.

NRIs eager to see

Ram temple at Ayodhya

—Brahmdev Upadhyaya, PeethadhishwarDivine Life Society, West Indies

Ninety-five per cent of the total five crore Indians living in different parts of the world want Ramjanmabhoomi temple at Ayodhya forthwith. Why the issue is taking so much time to be settled, they ask. It is beyond our comprehension as to how a mosque is said to exist at the birthplace of Shri Ram. We are eager to see a temple in Ayodhya at the earliest. The NRIs are ready to give big donations for the temple. About the Ganga and Ram everybody out of India is ready to donate. The Government of India should solve the dispute forthwith by bringing a Bill in Parliament. It is beyond one’s imagination why the government is not doing it. There are about 15 lakh Muslims in America, not a single penny is given for the Haj. Similarly Britain, Russia, Holland where there are ten lakh Muslims are also not giving anything to Haj pilgrims. Why is India giving too much amount as subsidy to the Haj pilgrims? When Dr Karan Singh was in West Indies, people asked him this question, but he could not satisfy with an answer. The NRIs also wonder over the permission of four marriages to Muslims in India. India should have a common civil code at the earliest.

Tale of

two rallies

Last week there were two major rallies in New Delhi. One was VHP’s three-day Dharma Sansad held at Ram Lila Grounds followed by “Sansad Gherao” on February 24. And the second was communist-backed trade unions rally on February 26. Both the rallies, as reported by Hindustan Times, had different affect on Delhi traffic. Hindustan Times under the title “VHP rally has no affect on city traffic” reports on February 25: “The ‘Sansad Gherao’ rally of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which terminated at Jantar Mantar, did not trigger traffic jams or bad tempers in the New Delhi area. In the end of the rally also the Delhi Police did not have to do much. What kept traffic moving was that rallyists did not march down to Jantar Mantar from the Ram Lila Grounds but drove down in buses from various points in the capital.”

Now have a look at another report carried by Hindustan Times under the title “Trade Unions rally wreaks havoc on traffic” on February 27: “The (trade unions backed by communists) rally caused huge traffic jams in most parts of east Delhi, Ring Road, ITO and the Nizamuddin bridges across Yamuna. Office-goers had a tough time and it took them nearly two hours to reach their destinations.”

Mobilise

youth power

—Swami Vishveshtirtha Pejawarmath, Udupi

It is time to take strong decisions with regard to Shri Ram temple. We have seen that politicians and political parties are playing politics and the Ramjanmabhoomi cannot be got with their help. We need to awaken the whole society. This is the time when we need to mobilise a big force of Hindu youth. The united Hindu youth power will not only give us the Shri Ram temple but also help in getting rid of the menace of terrorism. The reconstruction of Ram temple will raise the self-respect of Hindu society and the reconstruction of the temple is not possible with the help of any court. An extensive countrywide agitation will pave the way for the reconstruction of the temple.

Central legislation is

the only legal solution

—Dr Pravinbhai Togadia

“The only legal solution to the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute is Central legislation by the Indian Parliament declaring the Ramjanmabhoomi as birthplace of Shri Ram and hand over it to the Ramjanmabhoomi Trust,” said the Secretary General of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Dr Pravinbhai Togadia. About the satyagraha declared by the saints, he hoped that the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would respect the sentiments of Hindu society. In an exclusive interview to Organiser, he asked the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, if he is really serious about cow protection, he should ask his party president, Sonia Gandhi to extend support to the Vajpayee government for bringing in a joint central legislation in Parliament banning cow slaughter. Excerpts:

What is the main outcome of the 10th Dharma Sansad?

First, this was the biggest Dharma Sansad in history of the Ram temple movement. The major outcome of this Sansad is that after the demolition of the disputed structure in 1992, the agitation for the temple had stopped. There was a strong belief among the political circles and also among some of our well-wishers that the agitation on the Ram temple issue is not possible now. But in the last two, three years we have established that the Ram temple issue is still number one issue concerning the nation and we are able to mobilize thousands of saints as we were able to mobilize in the mid-nineties. So we have repeated the 1990s as far as the active mobilization of sadhus and saints is concerned. This is our first achievement.

Second, in this Dharma Sansad we have gone beyond the Ram temple issue. Since the reconstruction of the temple is basically part of cultural liberation and Ram is the symbol of cultural nationalism, this Dharma Sansad by passing a resolution has demanded that India should be declared a Hindu-nation, which is our ultimate goal and we have to achieve it.

The saints have declared that this is the last Dharma Sansad to discuss the Ram temple issue. Why is it so?

This is true, because, we have taken all final decisions regarding the movement. I tell you that the 1990s have been repeated among the masses also. Have a look at the recent public meetings held by the saints and the VHP in different parts of the country. In Gorakhpur meeting, there were about three lakh people. The mass turn-up at the meetings held at Ganganagar, Pune, Aurangabad, Mangalore, Belgaon, Chikmangalur and Dhar was unbelievable. And the response of the crowd at these meetings was stronger than in the nineties. In the 1990s it was stronger in the North, but now it is equally strong in the South and the assertion by the people is also much more as compared to the nineties. This is a big achievement.

It now appears the saints are in a mood to confront the government on the issue of the Temple. Keeping in view the compulsions of the coalition government at the Centre, there are views that the VHP should not create hurdles for the NDA government. Please comment.

It is wrong to say that this is a direct fight against the NDA Government. Of course this is a fight against the government administratively, fight against secularists academically, fight against jehadi forces locally and globally and a fight for Hindu Rashtra in the national perspective.

The fight is not confined to government alone. It includes matters socially, academically, intellectually and politically and of course symbolized by Ram temple. As far as the compulsion of the government is concerned or the advice of those who say that the VHP should not create trouble for the coalition NDA government; are we here for stability of the government, or are we here to fulfil the aspirations of Hindu society? This has to be noted. If we are working for the government, we should not create hurdles for the government. If we are working for Ram temple, Hindu Rashtra and fulfillment of the aspirations of the Hindu society, we should create awareness no matter if it creates any hurdles for government including the NDA government.

We have to define our purpose, where we stand and what we stand for? I think we stand for Hindutva and not for government. If Hindutva and government are complimentary, then it is fine. If confronting, we should be for Hindutva and the masses. We have decided to go for Ram rather than Raj. Of course we are confronting and without mobilizing public opinion and democratic agitations how is it possible that any government would accept our agenda? Should we abort the Hindu agitation for the well being of the NDA government or we should respect the Hindu agenda for the fulfillment of people’s aspirations so that governments can consider our concerns and, if there is absolute majority can fulfill our aspirations. The choice is before us.

RSS says India is already a Hindu Rashtra. Advaniji recently said that India couldn’t be a theocratic state. Now you are demanding the declaration of India as Hindu Rashtra. How would you justify these perceptions?

Everybody is correct. India is a Hindu Rashtra since millenniums. We are now demanding the restoration of the glory of the Hindu Rashtra. It is a question of acknowledgement. We say India is a Hindu Rashtra, but not every one realizes this. There is need to acknowledge it. If people have acknowledged it as Hindu Rashtra, why we called our country India? It should have been Bharat or Hindustan, Bharat that is Hindustan and not India that is Bharat. That is why we have asked for the pranpratishtha of Hindu Rashtra.

Who will perform this pranpratishtha of Hindu Rashtra? The government?

Something has to be done by the government also. There is a need to amend the Constitution for this purpose. And something has to be done by the society also. Both the society and the government will do the pranpratishtha.

The VHP has been fighting for the Ganga and cow protection for number of decades. But nothing concrete has been achieved so far. How long will the practice of merely adopting resolutions continue?

The Congress started the agitation for Independence in 1885, but Independence was achieved in 1947. During this period did the Congress not pass resolutions for freedom? Is it wrong to pass resolutions? It is our faith in truth and until the truth is not accepted its reiteration is necessary. We are confident that one day we would get success.

What do you think of the recent move of the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Digvijay Singh asking for ban on cow slaughter?

The Congress ruled the nation for almost 50 years. Why did it not pass a central legislation for cow protection? Today, if Digvijay Singh is really sincere, why should he not ask his party president, Sonia Gandhi to declare support for the Cow Protection Bill? Since the BJP is already in favour of cow protection, both the BJP and the Congress can jointly bring legislation in Parliament and pass it. In fact Digvijay Singh is not interested in cow protection, he is just posing to be supportive of the issue.

What do you say on the recent developments at Bhojshala in Dhar?

It is a Saraswati temple there. Idols and sculptures of goddess Saraswati can be seen everywhere in the temple. It should be handed over to Hindus for worship, and Muslims should not be allowed to offer namaz there. Why are Muslims offering namaz before the idol or picture of god or a deity?

Now the saints have declared Satyagraha for the temple. Do you think the government would agree to their demands?

Did the government of Rajiv Gandhi not allow the laying of foundation stone for the temple? Did Shri Narasimha Rao, after demolition of the disputed structure, not allow the reconstruction of a small makeshift temple at the birthplace? Then why this Government cannot consider our demands? If Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao can concede to the demands of the saints why can’t Atal Behari Vajpayee respect the sentiments of Hindus?