Latest on the Ram Mandir Case
The first meeting of the Ram Temple Trust has happened in Delhi’s Greater Kailash. This meeting got over in about two hours at the residence of K Parasaran, senior advocate who was appointed as the head of the trust by the Centre.
From the meeting, here is what has happened:
- The Trust has elected Mahant Nritya Gopal Das as president
- Champat Rai and Govind Giri have been elected as general secretary and as treasurer of the Ram Mandir Trust respectively.
- PM Modi’s close aide, Nripendra Mishra, has been appointed as the head of the construction committee
It was expected that the Trust was expected to finalise the date to start the construction of the Ram Temple. But instead of finalising the date, it has established a Nirman Samiti (construction committee) to be led by retired IAS officer, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra. A source of the trust has issued a statement saying that after 15 days, its members will meet again in Ayodhya, it will strive to announce the date of the construction.
Ram Mandir has been a bone of contention for many years in India. The subject of Ram Janambhoomi and Babri Masjid stirs up religious sentiments. To add to the effort of resolving this issue, the Supreme Court in November 2019 gave a verdict for the formation of a trust to start the construction of the Ram Mandir. The Modi government has announced its 15-member names, however, the panel itself has become a subject of considerable debate because of the absence of lower caste Hindus. The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh has kicked a new controversy as he has been demanding the inclusion of backward class members in the Trust.
Post the Supreme Court’s verdict; the Union government has decided to constitute an independent 15-member trust including one member from the Dalit community to supervise the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. This was announced, by PM Modi in the Lower House four days before the end of a 3-month deadline set by the Supreme Court.
What are the names of the Ram Mandir Trust?
The government has constituted a trust in which several prominent members have been recognised for the construction of Ram temple. The members include senior lawyer K. Parasaran, Jagatguru Shankracharya, Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj from Allahabad, Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj, Pejawar Math in Udupi, Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj from Haridwar, Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj from Pune and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra from Ayodhya.
Apart from these members some of the names were selected as the trustees – Anil Mishra, a homoeopathic doctor from Ayodhya and Kameshwar Chaupal from Patna who is a Scheduled Caste member, and Mahant Dinendra Das, Nirmohi Akhara, Ayodhya Baithak.
District magistrate of Ayodhya will be the ex-officio trustee, who will be a practising Hindu. If the DM is not Hindu, then additional district magistrate will be an ex-office member of the Trust.
Who Opened The Pandora’s Box of Babri Masjid
It was the brainchild of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for raising this controversial issue for political mileage. He decided to open the lock of Babri Masjid for puja in 1985. Since then, the relationship between the two communities has turned bitter. Since then, leaders like LK Advani was able to exploit it further.
How?
Advani was the real whistleblower of this controversial issue as he was able to muster the like-minded Hindus on one platform for BJP’s getting political gain in 1989-90. He was also aiming to become a prime minister taking due advantage of the tension that The Masjid’s demolition created. But his dream to become the prime minister of India remained unfulfilled. Several elections have been fought in the name of Ram temple since 1989 and Ram Temple has been the bee-hive of Hindutva ideology. Despite three decades of controversies over its construction, no conclusive resolve was in sight for this debacle until now.
What’s more in store for Ram Mandir
The veteran member of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas has confirmed that one of the Union ministers said Nritya Gopal Das and a senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member are likely to get the positions of president and general secretary respectively in the Ram temple trust.
Dissatisfaction in some factions
Speaking to media persons, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das – a prominent member of Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas and next in the line of Nritya Gopal Das said, “All the senior seers were disappointed after the government announced members of the Ram Temple Trust. They were angry because Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president has been sidelined. We also called an emergency meeting which was cancelled after a phone call from Delhi.”
Temple construction to start in April
Meanwhile, the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya is expected to begin either on Ram Navmi or Akshaya Tritiya in April 2020. The exact date, however, has not been finalised, it is likely to be fixed in the first meeting of the Trust as stated by Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj, a Trustee of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra.
Trust office to be opened in Delhi
The Central government has announced to open the office of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust in Greater Kailash, New Delhi. The Trust will work as an independent body and capable of making all decisions regarding the construction of Ram temple.
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