Ram Temple, ‘muscular policy’ on Pakistan at heart of RSS outreach

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) commitment to fulfilling the demand for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya and its “muscular policy” on Pakistan-backed terror groups will be the core of outreach by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates ahead of state assembly elections later this year and the 2019 general elections, according to RSS functionaries familiar with the matter.

The Sangh’s official position is that it maintains a distance from electoral politics and does not actively campaign for any party, but its affiliate BJP relies on the expansive RSS machinery to drum up support.

“The Sangh cadre sheds light on the achievements of the BJP government to help people make an informed choice,” a senior RSS functionary, one of the two cited above, said on condition of anonymity.

Another senior functionary said, also on condition of anonymity, that the government’s policy of not engaging with Pakistan, the decision by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to cancel a recent meeting with the Pakistan foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in New York, and the 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), will be projected as evidence of the BJP government’s resolve to counter terror emanating from across the border.

“The premise of no talks (with Pakistan) till support to terrorism ends has been taken seriously. The government has shown that while it took the first steps to mend ties, it has not shied away from taking bold steps to protect the territory and the people,” said the second functionary.

Similarly, the crackdown against terror groups operating in Kashmir, a third functionary said, reinforces the government’s intent to usher in peace and development in the strife-torn Valley, and will be highlighted.

When asked if the focus on issues such as the Pakistan policy was an attempt to divert attention from some domestic issues – among them demonetisation and the Rafale deal -- that the Opposition has used to train its guns at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the functionaries said that each policy needs to be examined in a “broader sense”.

On the domestic front, the third functionary said, the Sangh will talk about the government’s stand against the Muslim practice of instant Triple Talaq, and the decision to give higher minimum support price to farmers.

But one issue that is expected to dominate the outreach effort is the construction of a Ram Temple, a longstanding demand of the RSS. This has been indicated by the speeches of Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat in recent months.

The RSS chief last week said that even opposition parties cannot oppose a temple in Ayodhya openly as the deity is revered by the country’s majority.

The Congress on October 2 started a Ram Van Gaman Path Yatra to trace the mythological route taken by Lord Ram on his way to exile as mentioned in the epic Ramayana.

A top committee of Hindu saints, including the head of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, Nitya Gopal Das, will congregate in the Capital on Friday to announce a “plan of action” over the Ram Temple issue. The case about the main title deed to the disputed Ayodhya land where the Babri Masjid stood until it was demolished in 1992 will be heard in Supreme Court starting next month.

“The temple is not a political issue. It is a matter of faith for millions in this country. The BJP recognises the importance of the issue and what it means for the masses, but it is not linked to the elections,” the second RSS functionary said.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP and the RSS were like “Kalyug’s Kaikeyi” who remembered Lord Ram four months before every election and then sent him to exile after the polls.

“At one time in Satyug, Kaikeyi had got Lord Ram banished to a 14-year exile. In today’s Kalyug, ‘Kaikeyi BJP and RSS’ have sent Lord Ram to exile of 30 years.”

Surjewala also alleged that the RSS and Pakistan complemented each other, as both believed in the path of violence to subjugate and suffocate the Opposition.

Commenting on the Sangh’s renewed focus on these issues, political analyst Shirish Kashikar said the Ram Temple has always been a priority for the organisation.

“Unlike the BJP, which in its 2014 manifesto said it will respect the court’s decision, the Sangh, through the Vishva Hindu Parishad and other organisations, has always kept the issue alive. Now, when they feel there is a certain prevalent atmosphere and the court hearings are about to begin, they will obviously take up the issue,” he said.

Last week, the Supreme Court decided there was no need for a larger bench to review a 1994 decision related to the Ramjanmabhoomi case -- whether a mosque is central to Islam -- and that a bench would start hearing the land dispute case in late October.

Kashikar said that the Congress, too, had realised that opposing the temple construction could make it lose out on key votes. “These issues will gain momentum as the court hearings begin,” he said

First Published: Oct 04, 2018 23:36 IST