It was something expected.
There have been pro-Congress Shankaracharyas and a few otherwise who would either be politically neutral and also pro-BJP. But it is also true Shankaracharyas have often courted controversies. Decades back, one of them said 'women' had no bonafide right to be part of religious discourses.
There was another --who would be more busy finding faults with the Vajpayee government for dismissing Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat. The former naval chief had developed differences with Defence Minister George Fernandes and there was a big hue and cry when he was sacked by the Vajpayee government.
Now, the top leaders of Sanatan Hindu Dharma or Shankaracharyas have decided to not be a part of the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Jan 22, 2024.
Most of them expressed their displeasure that the ceremony didn't follow the rules of Sanatan Dharma. They object to the fact Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among the five people near the sanctum sanctorum. Modi is a non-Brahmin, is this a reason -- of course they are not spelling it out !!
After receiving the invitation to the Ram Mandir inauguration, Nischalananda Saraswati pointed out that the ceremony had turned into a political show.
"The country's Prime Minister will reside in the sanctum sanctorum, touch the idol, and perform the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. This has been given a political hue, if there is to be the Pran Pratishta of Lord Rama, it should be according to scriptural guidelines. I won't oppose it, nor will I attend.
I have taken my stance. Let's not mix half-truths and half-lies; everything should align with scriptural knowledge," he said.
(Nischalananda Saraswati is of Purvaamnaya Govardhanmath Puri Peeth)
Avimukteshwaranand, Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth Math decided not to attend Ayodhya's Ram Mandir ceremony on January 22.
He says, "Ayodhya already had a Ram Mandir before, and its construction isn't a gift or triumph for the religion. Political leaders not going to Ayodhya on January 22 may be due to their political constraints, but no such constraints bind me.
"Mandir was already there. Since the honourable court's decision, the land belongs to Hindus, and its use or misuse depends on their discretion,"
It appears, his words are more like senior Congress politician Digvijaya Singh. One reason, as analysts say, both follow one common Guru, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati.
When he died in 2022, media outlets liberally reported that in Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati’s death, the Congress has lost a friend and prominent Hindu seer who had always vehemently opposed the VHP and the RSS.
So, the story is quite complex as anything socio-religious episodes those happen in India.
Reports also say Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati of Paschimannaya Dwarka Shardapeeth will also not attend the ceremony. However, there is no official confirmation on the same.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand's original name was Umashankar Pande; and he had even opposed Modi earlier including when the Kashi Corridor was being built.
VHP leader Alok Kumar has also stated that Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati has given a statement "welcoming" construction of the Ram temple.
Nischalananda Saraswati has said, "I keep going to Ayodhya, and will keep going. But will not be part of the Jan 22 event".
Apparently, he is also displeased that the Temple Trust has stated in the invite that seer can come with only one disciple. "There was an invite and it said only one disciple....what I will do going there. Dharm Gurus are not going and PM Narendra Modi will be there, he will touch the idol".
The Congress under attack and faced with internal rebellion has unleashed its ecosystem trying to build up an argument that religious works should be left to religious Gurus, priests and seers; and why should a mortal politician do it.
Congress spokesman Pawan Khera tried to strike a balance. He said, "There was an invite and they have responded" -- reference to Congress statement that Sonia Gandhi, Malikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not go.
"But there is no bar on any other Congress leader who wants to go if invited....even UP Congress chief Ajay Rai is going to the Ram Temple on Jan 15," he said.
Kalyan Singh was a key face of 'Ram temple movement', loved describing himself as a 'Ram Bhakt' -- but he developed big time differences with Vajpayee
Once Kalyan Singh told journalists in Delhi - "Ghutna tek tek key Sarkar nahi chalai jaati (You cannot run a government by kneeling down every step)". This was a veiled reference to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee 'knee' problem post-surgery.
About whom former Prime Minister P V Narsimha Rao said probably the demolition of the Babri Masjid could have been stopped if only Kalyan Singh had wished.
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| Kalyan Singh with mentor Advani and M M Joshi |
The argument if only the UP administration under Kalyan Singh had allowed the paramilitary forces unhindered passage to the site of demolition. What later turned to be a more disputed question was -- Should the Rao government 'dismissed' the Kalyan Singh government and imposed President's rule in Uttar Pradesh before December 6 as a preemptive operation?
Team Rao also comprising among others Home Minister S B Chavan believed that would have been disastrous and erroneous.
Even the state Governor recommended against it: "The time is not ripe for taking any drastic step like the dismissal of the UP government or the dissolution of the state Assembly or the imposition of President's rule in the state. If it is done, it may have far-reaching consequences. It may also lead to large-scale violence not only in this state but also in other parts of the country." The Governor, Satyanarayan Reddy, was no friend of the BJP,
He was "handpicked and appointed when V.P. Singh was the prime minister. They had been in the same political party," Rao wrote later in his book on Ayodhya.
It is said leaders like Lalji Tandon, also close to Vajpayee, rivaled Kalyan Singh who by then also developed ambitious of seeing himself in the national politics. The intra-party squabble used to be quite strong. In 1999, L K Advani as Home Minister had gone to Aligarh for a CrPF function. Kalyan Singh then Chief Minister had come. Both the leaders held a closed door meeting for long.
Talking to journalists, while Advani declined to speak on the meeting saying, : "I have been a journalist myself, I knew you all will be asking this, but I have nothing to say". Kalyan Singh also dutifully said, "Badey bhai ne jo kaha dia...toh kaha diya (What the elder brother has said should be respected)".
But Kalyan Singh quit the BJP shortly after. In fact, he quit the saffron party twice only to return to the party. He left the party for the first time in December 1999 and returned to it in January 2004 before the Lok Sabha elections.
He again resigned from the party in January 2009 to form Jan Kranti Party. He even aligned with the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav for 2009 Lok Sabha polls but the gambit did not work for either.
Kalyan Singh was a RSS man in his young age and won assembly election first time from Atrauli in 1967 on a Bhartiya Jana Sangh (BJS) ticket.
Of course, later part of BJP he continued his winning streak for nine-term till 2002. He had lost the polls in 1980.
In the 1991 Assembly polls, the BJP won the majority for the first time in Uttar Pradesh, winning 221 seats in the house of 425 members. On June 24, 1991, Kalyan Singh was first sworn in as Chief Minister.
Dec 6, 1992 came to his life and political career within a year and a half. He resigned following the demolition of the 'disputed' structure, but the centre dismissed his government. In fact, Kalyan Singh became chief minister again in 1997 according to a power-sharing agreement between the BJP and the BSP.
After the Modi government came to power, Kalyan Singh was appointed the Governor of Rajasthan.
On Dec 6, 1992 the day Kar sevaks went rampaged, Kalyan Singh as Chief Minister had categorically instructed the police and other security personnel not to open fire.
On his death in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said, "Generations to come will remain forever grateful to Kalyan Singh Ji for his contributions towards India's cultural regeneration. He was firmly rooted in Indian values and took pride in our centuries-old traditions". Yes, to the question who was Chief Minister on Dec 6, 1992, 'generations to come' will always remember Kalyan Singh's name.
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