MARGHERITA (ASSAM): The months of January and February were hectic for Harish Saikia and Rubul Chetia of Margherita, a small town at the farthest corner of Assam, not far from the Myanmar border.
The duo were among the almost 13,000 karyakartas of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its sister outfits in the northeast who tried to connect as many households as possible to the mandir movement by contributing for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Although the Rs 35 crore they collected from the seven northeast states might be a drop in the ocean, the fact that they managed to reach even far-flung border villages bears testimony to the Sangh's ever-increasing presence and the gargantuan effort to link every nook and cranny of the oft-neglected region to the fundraising drive. But it was a challenging task, for, historically, people in the region haven't worshipped Ram as a deity.
The fund-collection drive for the temple started on January 15 and continued till February 27 under the aegis of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Sangh affiliate. According to a VHP statement in March, nine lakh volunteers collected Rs 2,500 crore from across the country for the construction of the temple.
Saikia says they faced questions regarding the significance of Ram in Assam and why people in the state have to contribute for a temple that is coming up in UP. "I tried to explain to people that the Ram we have in our prayer chants and husoris (Bihu songs) is the Ram of Ayodhya. We don't have photos or idols of Ram but he is embedded in Assamese culture and tradition," says Saikia. He says their campaign slogan was 'From Namghar to Ram Ghar'. Namghars are community places of worship in Assam that are related to revered Vaishnavite saint and 15th-century reformer Srimanta Sankardev.
Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science at Gauhati University, explains that the perception of Ram is different in Assamese society from that in north India. "Ramayana is popular as an epic in Assam and Ram is also a popular divine figure. But, in Assam Ram is always imagined along with Krishna. And Krishna is indeed more powerful in Assamese cultural imagination and has extensively been used in dramas and music," says Dutta.
But it was not always that doubts and questions greeted the volunteers. "In several homes we have been welcomed with women of the household performing aarti. People have contributed wholeheartedly for construction of the temple," says Chetia.
Latching on to local cultural icons is how RSS has gained a foothold in the northeast, explains Malini Bhattacharjee, assistant professor of political science in Azim Premji University in Bengaluru and author of 'Disaster Relief and the RSS'.
"While their ideology surrounding the Ramjanmabhoomi issue found a natural resonance in the Hindi heartland states, RSS and its sister organisations have intelligently adapted themselves to local cultural idioms and motifs of the northeast that are far removed from the narrative of Ram," says Bhattacharjee, adding, "The appropriation of Sankardev's Eka Sarana Nama Dharma in Assam, Donyi Polo in Arunachal Pradesh and Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland are interesting examples of the same."
The Ram Mandir fundraising drive was conducted in every district of the region and no one opposed it, claims VHP's northeast organisational secretary Dinesh Tiwari. He says 12,800 karyakartas fanned across the region and raised Rs 35 crore in the northeastern states, at times negotiating difficult terrain. Interestingly, in three of the seven states Christians are in a majority and in two others, they form a substantial chunk of the population. Even Christians and Muslims came forward and contributed towards the temple, claims Tiwari.
In Jalukie town of Nagaland's hilly Peren district, it was Tasile Zeliang and her team of about a dozen people that did all the legwork. She says members of Rashtra Sevika Samiti and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram were involved in the fund-collection drive in her district. In the picturesque Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh, the drive saw an overwhelming response, says Kuru Tai, general secretary of Apatani Peace Association.
Many Assamese Muslims have helped and contributed to the Ram mandir fundraising drive, says Nurul Haque, working president of All Assam Goriya Moriya Deshi Jatiya Parishad, an organisation that fights to further the rights of indegenous Muslims of the state. "Ram isn't just for Hindus. Even Muslims respect and celebrate Ram," he says. He says unlike in other states, the culture of indigenous Muslims of Assam is the same as that of the Hindus and that is why contributing towards the construction of the Ram Mandir comes easily to them. Views of other Muslims of the state, though, could differ from Haque's.
While nobody expressed their views against the fundraising drive, some academicians refused to comment on the subject, saying they weren't comfortable voicing their opinions.