Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid row: RSS has given Narendra Modi govt a much-needed breather by shifting onus on SC

The RSS has taken serious exception to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi’s 29 October observation on the Ayodhya matter that the court had “its own priorities” and “whether the case will come in January, February or March, it will be for the appropriate bench to decide”. Gogoi said so while adjourning a hearing on the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute and ordering the constitution of an appropriate bench for the hearing.

There has been a general disquiet among pro-Ram temple forces and sympathisers that the apex court didn’t agree with the plea of Uttar Pradesh government and others that an early hearing should be held and a verdict should be delivered soon. With the RSS taking up the matter at its three-day conclave of over 350-member strong Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) and its sarkaryavah Suresh Joshi aka Bhaiya ji Joshi venting the collective feelings at a press conference at the end of the conclave gives the issue a new dimension.

The ideological fountainhead of Sangh Parivar asserted: Why should the court postpone this matter “indefinitely”? Why should an issue that relates to sentiments of crore of Hindus not be prioritised for hearing? Why is it not on priority of the court?

The RSS’s second-in-command didn’t mince words in making known their displeasure over the Supreme Court order to further postpone the matter. He said it was expected that the court would do justice with sentiments of Hindus but the court has taken too long (the case is pending before apex court since 2011). Joshi twice said “badi vedna hai” (delay in hearing was deeply painful). He didn’t stop there, twice saying:  “Hindu samaj apmanit anubhav karta hai” (Hindu society feels humiliated).

By focusing on this issue, the RSS top brass has shrewdly shifted focus from Modi government to the court. The way the sarkaryawah (considered to CEO of RSS in terms of work allocation) Joshi spoke at the conclusion of conclave clearly indicated that it had now decided to take pressure off from Modi government to bring a bill in Winter Session of Parliament or an ordinance ahead of that. In his Vijyadhashmi address from Nagpur, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat talked of the need for the government to make a law to handover the land to Ramjanambhooni Nyas to build a grand Ram temple. In span of the past five days (since the time Supreme Court deferred hearing) two of its senior functionaries—Arun Kumar and Manmohan Vaidya—have spoken out as to why the government needed to bring in legislation on the Ram temple, just as the Sardar Patel government did for construction of the Somnath temple.

The change in stance—since the past fortnight—has been more than clear. Sample this: To repeated queries if the government should bring a bill or an ordinance on Ram temple, the RSS leader said, “Let’s first wait for the court verdict. When the government thinks that no alternative is left in court then it can consider bringing a legislation… till the court decides something, one way or another, it would be difficult for the government to make a law.” So, all governments have desisted from taking a legislation route to resolve the issue because they respected courts, he said. The courts should also understand sentiments of people and government’s position and deliver that long-awaited verdict, he added.

The pressure from within for Modi government, from its ideological fraternity in Sangh Parivar and from its core social constituents, was putting it in a difficult position. The issue has huge political implications. BJP leadership wants to keep popular sentiment alive on the issue, but does not want to take any hasty steps that could prove to be detrimental to its larger agenda.

The RSS has now given the required breather to the Modi government and the BJP even as it keeps the public debate on the issue raging. Joshi admitted RSS leadership discussed the issue with BJP president Amit Shah. One remains unsure if RSS changed its stance after discussions with Shah or after wider consultations with the Sangh Parivar leadership at the conclave.

The Sangh didn’t hesitate to stake its claim for the construction of a Ram temple. Evidence proves a temple existed at the site and even the high court accepted this claim in 2010, when it ordered two-thirds of the land be given to Hindu organisations. BJP MP Rakesh Sinha’s move to introduce a private member bill in the Rajya Sinha is a clever ploy by the RSS and the BJP to keep the debate on Ram temple going and force rivals to make their position clear, if the bill is introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament.