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'We vow to build a home for Ram lalla that is fit for the prince of gods'

Prem Panicker in Kumbh Nagri

The pussyfooting of the past few days is over. Today, the VHP put on a new face -- aggressive, confrontational, determined.

One possible reason could be that the VHP finally succeeded in bringing the recalcitrant Akharas into line. Thus far, leaders of the major Akharas had, at every opportunity, been expressing their intent to dissociate from the VHP and its plans to announce a date for the construction of the Ram temple. Intense politicking, spearheaded by Giriraj Kishore on behalf of the VHP, appears to have worked -- on the crucial second day of the VHP's ninth Dharam Sansad at Kumbh Nagari on the banks of the Ganga, the Mahamandaleshwars of the Nirvani, Nirmal, Juna, Atal and Digamber Akharas came out of their Achilles-like seclusion and joined the other assembled sants and savants on the VHP dais.

The build-up began early in the morning, with VHP brass informing mediapersons that three pundits from Kashmir, led by Pandit Kameshwarji, had been pressed into service to determine an auspicious time.

To decide on the date? "No, that decision has already been taken and the resolution has been prepared by the Marg Darshak Mandal -- the pundits are deliberating on an auspicious time to make the announcement."

Through the morning, meanwhile, five busloads of the Haryana Police, bolstered by bomb-detection squads and riot police, arrived at the venue and blanketed it in a security net. By way of an additional show of force, the cadres of the Bajrang Dal were pressed into service to enhance security in the main pandal and its environs.

While the VHP top brass occupied themselves in hectic consultations through the morning, general secretary Dr Pravin Togadia was deputed to hold a 1.30 pm media briefing (read, entertain the press and whet its collective appetite).

Dr Togadia, in his briefing, talked of Pakistan's continued sponsorship of terrorism and the need to force the government to declare Pakistan a terrorist state and, "if necessary, to force the government to carry out military operations to obliterate all terrorist training camps across the border." This, he said, was one of the resolutions moved by the Dharam Sansad late on Friday evening.

He then announced that the date for construction of the Ram temple had been decided. So sorry, he says, I can't tell you the date now, it will be announced officially at the auspicious time and you can all hear it firsthand at the Dharam Sansad meeting hall. He did, however, indicate that the dharmadikaris, in concert with the VHP leadership, had already drawn up a comprehensive action plan, designed to generate and build up momentum from now till the actual construction date.

Dr Togadia, however, gave enough indications that the VHP was now confident enough to assume an aggressive posture. "If, in the Shah Bano case, 10 lakh Muslims can be appeased by an Act of Parliament, then is that same Parliament not capable of pushing through the necessary legislation to construct the temple at Ayodhya, as demanded by 90 crore Hindus?" he asked.

When it was pointed out that it was, after all, a BJP government in place at the centre, Togadia said the VHP was not concerned about who was in power and who was not. "If the Ram Temple is not on your agenda, then you are not on the agenda of the Hindu dharam and its dharmadikaris," he averred.

Other select sound-bites: "Don't worry about whether we can carry out our programme. We have 46,000 VHP units across the country, each unit has a minimum of five members and they all stand ready to carry out any and all orders that we may pass."

"Opposition? There has always been opposition. There was opposition even earlier -- but still, that opposition was not good enough to save the Babri Masjid."

"Court case? I will point out with all emphasis that there is no case pending against Ram lalla. The law of the land is that the tenant has custody of the land and the tenant of Ram Janambhoomi is Ram lalla. And on the 'best friend' principle, the VHP and the Ram Mandir Nirman Samiti has the right to build a temple at the site -- and we WILL build that temple. If a temple to Ram cannot be built in India, then where else can it be constructed?"

"We will achieve our objectives peacefully, if we are allowed to. Otherwise, the biggest andolan in Indian history will be unleashed..."

Fighting words. Plenty of them. All designed to serve as appetiser before the main course -- which was served at the Dharam Sansad pandal inside the VHP complex.

The pandal, capable of accommodating 10,000 at a pinch, was half-full by 2 pm, after which it just kept getting more packed. On the dais, the VHP had taken care to put the religious leaders in the forefront -- thus, the dais was dominated by the Kanchi Sankaracharya, by Acharya Paramhans Ramchandra Das, by Mahant Avaidyanath, by the Mahamandaleshwars of the leading Akharas, while VHP leaders of the order of Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and others effaced themselves in a corner, popping up now and again to garland a newly arrived sant or savant.

Though a resolution against conversions had been passed the previous day, the subject was taken up again this afternoon. Much rhetoric, and some dubious arithmetic, was on view as speaker after speaker held forth on the subject. Select soundbites:

"One lakh Hindu women are converting to Islam every year. Meanwhile, Christian missionaries have been bringing Rs 1000 crore into the country every year, to carry out their nefarious programmes."

"If one Hindu is converted, the religion has earned itself one enemy, Swami Vivekananda once said. I will go further: if one Hindu girl is kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam, she breeds 10 children and, thus, 10 more enemies of Hinduism."

"Sonia Gandhi, a Christian lady, believes that by coming to the Kumbh Mela and kneeling in front of some fake sadhu, people will believe that she is friendly to Hindus. I warn you that if that woman is ever made Prime Minister, there will be a Christian Pope ruling over Hindu this rashtra. But don't worry -- at whatever cost, we will never allow that to happen."

"We demand, with the full force of the assembled religious leaders backing us, that conversion be made an actionable offence, that laws be passed in Parliament prohibiting all forms of conversion and that these laws be strictly enforced throughout the country."

"Mood banakhe rakh rahe hain (They're maintaining the mood)," a cynical voice from the back of the press enclosure was heard saying, while the speeches went on.

Finally, it was Mahamandaleshwar Avdeshanand Maharaj of the Juna Akhara of Nagas -- so lately part of the boycotting Akharas -- to the mike. To deliver the verbal equivalent of a fanfare of trumpets. "I am proud," he said, "to present the resolution crores of Hindus are waiting for, the resolution that has the eyes of the world focussed on us at this moment. I declare that we will build a Ram temple at Ayodhya, at whatever cost. It is the wish of Hindus across the world, it is the wish of the gods and gandharvas and kinnars and..."

But he did not make the resolution. That honour was handed over to Sri Ramanandacharya Maharaj, of the VHP's Marg Darshak Mandal. A practised orator with a gift for using pauses and dramatic inflections to optimum effect, the Acharya, clutching a saffron bundle that looked like a tanpura, brought the audience to its feet when he declared: "We will NOT build a temple to Ram lalla at Ayodhya."

Dramatic pause.

"That temple already exists, poojas are being carried out there every day. We merely vow to build, at the site, a home for Ram lalla that is fit for the prince of gods, the god of princes. And we will begin that work on Mahasivaratri Day, 2002."

And having said that, he immediately abdicated the mike, leaving it for yet another practised, seasoned orator -- Acharya Dharmendra of the VHP's Marg Darshak Mandal.

Who, for his part, was very careful to point out -- twice -- that the decision had been taken under the aegis of, and the resolution signed by, Paramhans Ramchandra Das. "I am his disciple, it is the duty of the guru to decide and of the disciple to announce his decisions. I am here, as Paramhans Maharajji's disciple, to announce the decisions taken under his presidentship."

The attempt was to paper over a little tiff between Paramhans and leading VHP bosses, following the former's militant announcement, on day one of the Dharam Sansad, that a date had been decided for construction of the temple. A date HAD in fact been decided, but by making the announcement out of turn, the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas head had undercut the VHP's plans for the formal announcement, leading Swami Chinmayanand to remark on Friday that "Paramhansji is venerable, but whatever he says is said in an individual capacity, it is not a policy statement of the VHP."

Once that crack was papered over, Acharya Dharmendra gave his oratorical powers full rein. First, he got the assembly to stand up, raise both hands, clench their fists and chant 'Jai Shri Ram' -- teasing them, rock star fashion, to shout louder and louder.

Then came an almost whispered statement: "I am the one who, during an earlier Dharam Sansad, had the honour of announcing the kar seva that brought down the Babri Masjid. Now, I have again been given the honour of making a momentous announcement. And let me assure you that, as happened before, the announcement I am now going to make will come true."

Then came a harangue, aimed at conveying one message: The Ram temple was a fait accompli and the future well-being of the minority community lay in accepting that fact and cooperating in its construction. Politicians, he warned, will for their own selfish ends try to fool the Muslims -- but they should not be fooled. Christians, meanwhile, will try to whip up opposition -- but that ploy too wouldn't work.

"Look around you at the world," Acharya Dharmendra thundered. "Look at where the trouble is, where the wars are and you will find the signature of the Christians and the Muslims. Then look at where the constructive activities are happening -- and you will find our signature."

Prime stuff and, by now, the captive audience was lapping it up and asking for more. He gave them more.

"Jab thak Ayodhya mein Ram lalla ka mandir nahin hoga, tab thak tumhara kalyan asambhav hai (Unless there is a temple dedicate to Ram at Ayodhya, you will not attain salavation)," -- still, addressing the Muslims of the land.

And then, Acharya Dharmendra proceeded to read out the official resolution of the VHP, charting the point by point course of action over the period between now and March 12, 2002. Emphasising the importance of the Jan Jagran programme, Acharya Dharmendra said, "We will go to every village and we will tell them, 'Tum ghar main baite baite Ram ka naam japoge, aur wahan Ayodhya mein Ram ka mandir banega.'"

With such interpolations, he worked his way through the resolution, then wound up to the most thunderous applause yet.

That is the end of one story -- and, by all indications, the beginning of quite another.

ALSO SEE
VHP temple date: March 12, 2002

Complete coverage of the Kumbh Mela

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