Roles played by Namo and other Prime Ministers in the Ram Temple Movement

(Rahul Gandhi and his anti-Mandir brigade will do well to note that veteran Congressman and former interim Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda had founded the Shri Ram Janmotsav Samiti on Ram Navami in 1983. 

The RSS leaders also attended the feast he held on that occasion.)

The reference to the 1949 development in Ayodhya finds repeated mention in the Supreme Court order of November 9, 2019. To view things in retrospective effect, it is worth mentioning that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948 had sparked off turmoil and an atmosphere of gloom in the country. 

It was around this time, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru had said to Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh that - “Uttar Pradesh is becoming a foreign land to me”.

It is presumed Nehru wanted the District Magistrate K K Nayar to remove the idols. Gobind Ballabh Pant apparently declined to abide by Nehru’s instructions saying he could not.

(The Shyam rang, dark coloured, Ram Lalla idol sculpted on ‘Krishna Shila’, black stone)

What later came out is that as the ‘idol’ of Ram Lalla ‘surfaced’ inside the Mosque, the Muslims claimed that it was kept there by the Hindus. Subsequently, both the parties filed civil suits. The UP government proclaimed the premises a disputed area and locked the gates. In 1950, the court took cognizance of a petition and restrained the removal of the idol and allowed the worship to continue. In 1959, Nirmohi Akhara enters the legal fray and in 1961, the UP Sunni Central Board of Waqfs moves in to claim possession of the mosque and the adjoining land. 

According to the written statement of the Sunni Central Waqf Board later submitted in the Supreme Court, the idols were “surreptitiously placed inside the mosque” on the night of 22- 23 December 1949. There is neither any presiding deity nor a Janmasthan.

# Another Congress government, now headed by Rajiv Gandhi came into the scene in 1986 when the gates of the mosque were thrown open for the Hindus. On a plea from Hari Shankar Dubey, the district judge directs Masjid gates to be unlocked to allow Darshan. Notably, the Muslim groups set up Babri Masjid Action Committee.

V P Singh, Rao with Gujral, Chandrashekhar and Gowda

No less than former President Pranab Mukherjee wrote in his book ‘The Turbulent Years: 1980-96’ that opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple was an ‘error of judgement’. 

In 1986, the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Bir Bahadur Singh was convinced by Rajiv Gandhi and his ‘pro-Hindutva’ cousin Arun Nehru to open the lock. Subsequently, religious rites were done inside the disputed structure. It is given to believe that with his 1984 massive electoral victory, Rajiv Gandhi was more than convinced that the Hindu consolidation would be a good recipe for his political battle.

In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi also laid the stone for Ram Mandir with a vision to bring back Ram Rajya. This cost him the elections and the Congress lost for the first time. Precisely on November 10, 1989 the controversial foundation laying of the Ram temple was done. Buta Singh was Rajiv Gandhi’s Home Minister and who certainly simply basked in the reflected glory of the Prime Minister and did not know how much the episode would cost Congress party in future. 

An interesting story had surfaced much later – and more of it after Rajiv Gandhi’s death in 1991 – that it was a saint Devrahwa Baba in Gorakhpur who was instrumental in making Rajiv Gandhi take such a major decision. Apparently the then UP Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari was also taken by surprise when things started falling. 

Tiwari, though was always a ‘yes man’ to the family, reportedly initially declined to allow Shilanyas as there was a court order too. The VHP had started organising big programes since 1986 in the name of Ram Janmabhoomi movement and the organisation was ‘restrained’ by the court to do anything on the disputed site. But the story is – the Guru Devrahwa Baba had told Rajiv Gandhi – “....Bachcha, ho jane do (Let the Shilanyas be allowed, let it happen my child)”. 

The political fallout was huge. Gradually it came to light the Congress lost Muslim support first to V P Singh and subsequently to Mulayam Singh Yadav and also Kanshi Ram- Mayawati duo of the BSP. On the other hand, in 1989 elections, the BJP gained maximum benefit and its Lok Sabha tally jumped from two to 86. 

It was not without good reason in 2002 during the peak of Gujarat mayhem when some of interacted with George Fernandes, he summed up the story of Congress folly pretty well. 

“The BJP has been attacked for politicising religion and Hinduism, the VHP has come under flak for distorting history, but what about the Congress role? Rajiv Gandhi opened the flood gates of problems for him and opened the door of opportunities for BJP. It was the Congress party which brought in history and politics on wrong platforms,” George Fernandes had articulated it very well.

 Around 1989, V P Singh as Prime Minister and the ‘new face’ from Janata Dal got himself involved in Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid tangle. Prior to his anointment as Prime Minister succeeding Rajiv Gandhi and having deceived Chandrashekhar, V P Singh reportedly had told a group of Hindu Sadhus and VHP leaders that if each Hindu picks up one brick each, the Majid will be gone.

V P Singh later denied having said so and as the story was first ‘reported’ by Arun Shourie, the legendary editor lost his job. But V P Singh took an interesting stance as well. “So far as it violated or intended to violate the Supreme Court's order, I was against it. So far as it meant to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, I was in favour of it.” 

Around that time, Late Singh had announced implementation of the Mandal Commission’s recommendation to reserve government jobs for people from lower caste background. V P Singh was also instrumental in stalling Advani’s now infamous Rath Yatra and got him arrested by the erstwhile Lalu Prasad regime on in Samastipur in Bihar. Of course, VP Singh had to sacrifice his government for that.

Congress Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s role in the Babri Masjid demolition has been discussed widely. 

But history is expected to always question and also wonder why Narasimha Rao did not impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh and had allowed Kalyan Singh regime to conspire with Bajrang Dal and other elements in Sangh Parivar and that finally led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Rao made a speech in Parliament on December 7, 1992: “The demolition of the mosque was a barbarous act. The government will see to it that it is rebuilt.” 

-Atal Bihari Vajpayee was first BJP Prime Minister. Earlier, we have examined closely his remarks on the temple movement and how the ground needed to be ‘levelled’. Interestingly before resigning from the 13-day government on May 27, 1996, Vajpayee had said “We yearn for the unity of the nation. Revoking Article 370 and building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya are the key actions to be taken.” 

- A major decision from Allahabad High Court came in 2010 when Manmohan Singh became prime minister. 

The court had ruled that there be a three-way division of the disputed land – one-third for the Sunni Waqf Board, one-third for the Nirmohi Akhara and one-third to the party for Ram Lalla. Manmohan Singh had issued an appeal stating “Government on its part remains fully committed to upholding the rule of law and maintaining peace, order and harmony…Orders delivered by the three Honourable Judges need to be examined carefully”. 

He further has said – “The correct conclusion, at this stage, is that the status quo will be maintained until the cases are taken up by the Supreme Court”.

In more ways than, it has been argued that  Sept 30, 2010 judgement from three-member Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had left Muslims anguished. The anger was more against the Centre as the grand old party was in power. In a meeting on October 5 (2010), five days after the verdict, the Congress party adopted a resolution and said in no way the verdict had given ‘sanction’ to the demolition of Dec 6, 1992. 

The then Home Minister P Chidambaram also said Babri Masjid demolition was ‘completely unacceptable’. “....and it was an act done by people who took the law into their own hands”. 

On November 9, 2019, after the five-member bench Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, “Be it Ram Bhakti or Rahim Bhakti (devotion to Ram or Rahim), it is imperative that we strengthen the spirit of Rashtra Bhakti (devotion to the country)”. 

Prior to that on September 19, Prime Minister made a strong case for peace and harmony during his election speech in Nashik and had said – “People have been giving rubbish statements on the issue of Ram temple. The entire country’s people have faith in the country’s court. It is important for the people to respect the Supreme Court”. 

Sounding critical of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray without naming him, the Prime Minister had said – “......To loudmouths who keep giving statements, I will fold my hands and urge them not to do so”. 

Only a few days prior to this, Thackeray had urged his party men to prepare themselves to lay down the bricks for a grand Ram Temple. It is altogether a different chapter that after Maharashtra assembly polls, Shiv Sena has walked out of NDA and aligned two ‘secular’ forces the Congress and Natioanlist Congress Party giving up its Hindutva agenda.

Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister in his second term was perhaps being breathlessly hyperactive in fulfilling all his major electoral promises vis-a-vis hardcore Hindutva issues. 

The new dispensation that commenced on May 30, 2019 is obviously more focused on the BJP’s ideological moorings – the Article 370 and the Ram Temple. Of course this was in contrast to Modi 1.0 which had assumed power in 2014 chiefly playing Modi’s image of a ‘doer’ and a catalyst of development. 

Between 2014 and 2019, there was no much mention or push about these agendas though there were headlines over ‘mob lynching’ on the issue of cattle slaughter. 

The governance between 2014 and May 2019 – from the perspective of Modi administration - largely focused on rural housing, electrification and Swachh Bharat and Ayushman Bharat. There is a reason to that.

When Modi prepared for the 2014 general elections determined to oust the Congress-led UPA, he had given up the ‘hardliner Hindutva’ cloak and focused on the narrative of good governance.  

In fact, the BJP’s 2014 manifesto did not even use the word ‘Hindutva’. 

Instead, the 2014 BJP Manifesto which clamoured ‘Times for Change, Time for Modi’ -  had said – “BJP recognises that no nation could chart out its domestic or foreign policies unless it has a clear understanding about itself, its history, its roots...”.

Tales of low-profile but important Congress leaders in Ram Mandir movement: 

Many Congress leaders may not even bother to know that a party veteran Dau Dayal Khanna was a ley proponent of the Temple movement in early eighties and even the RSS and VHP had trust in him and thus got associated with him.

 

In 1983, Khanna was the lead speaker at a Hindu Sammelan organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Muzaffarnagar in UP. The BJP was hardly in the scene.

Former interim PM Gulzarilal Nanda was also present and so was Prof Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) of the RSS. 

When the VHP constituted a committee to “liberate” the Ram Janmabhoomi in 1984, Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhpur, the predecessor/Guru of Yogi Adityanath, was its head and Khanna its general secretary. 

Khanna and other leaders from VHP also had launched a yatra from Sitamarhi in Bihar to Ayodhya, carrying idols of Ram and Sita.  

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