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Journalism of Courage
Since August 4, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been carrying out under court orders a “scientific investigation/ survey/ excavation” at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi to “find out…whether the [present structure] has been constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.
The mosque stands next to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The historical record suggests it was built in the 17th century on the orders of Aurangzeb after destroying the original Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said last week that the Muslim side should acknowledge the “historic mistake” and propose a solution.
The Sangh Parivar has not involved itself in the current phase of the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi mosque dispute. However, the RSS had raised a demand on Kashi as early as in 1959, even before it took up the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue.
When the issue of the “return” of Hindu temples was first taken up in 1959, only Kashi Vishwanath was mentioned — not Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya or Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura. At the annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) of the RSS, a resolution on the “Issues of Temples Turned into Mosques” was adopted.
It said: “Many intolerant and tyrannical foreign aggressors and rulers in Bharat have, during the last one thousand years, destroyed many Hindu temples and built mosques in their place… Out of all such temples, the Kashi Vishwanath temple occupies a special place of honour because of its unique position as the centre of devotion and faith of all Hindus… The Sabha (ABPS) urges the Government of Uttar Pradesh to take steps to return this temple to the Hindus…”
In 1981, there was deep concern in the RSS after about 150 Dalit families in Tamil Nadu’s Meenakshipuram converted to Islam to escape caste oppression.
A meeting of the Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) of the RSS in 1981 passed a resolution calling upon “the entire Hindu Society to bury deep the internal caste dissensions and the pernicious practice of untouchability and stand up as one single homogeneous family, so that the neglected and down-trodden sections will be assured of a place of equality, security and honour in the Hindu fold”.
The Meenakshipuram incident changed the dynamics of the RSS’s Hindu renaissance project. Ashok Singhal, who had been moved after the Emergency as Prant Pracharak of Delhi (and Haryana) from his position of Sambhag Pracharak in Kanpur, was deployed to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Singhal turned the Parivar’s focus to Ayodhya. At a VHP meeting in 1984, a resolution was passed to “free” Ram Janmabhoomi. That year, the VHP’s first Dharma Sansad demanded the removal of the three mosques at “Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi”.
At its ABPS on March 15, 1985, the RSS said that “Ramjanmbhoomi Ayodhya, Krishna Janmabhoomi Mathura and Vishwanath Temple Kashi are most sacred places for Hindus”, but its demand was concentrated on Ayodhya as it “expected that UP government will realise the truth and will return it (disputed site at Ayodhya) to rightful owner Hindu samaj”.
At its national executive in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, on June 9-11, 1989, the BJP said “the sentiments of the people must be respected, and Ram Janmasthan handed over to the Hindus”. The Palampur resolution made no mention of Kashi and Mathura.
The RSS ABKM in 1989 and 1990, and the ABPS of 1991 stayed focussed on Ayodhya alone. In 1994, the ABPS asked the Centre to “promptly hand over the acquired piece of land to Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas…” But the shrines in Kashi and Mathura were not mentioned.
The governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998-2004 kept the Ayodhya issue on the back burner, and the BJP appeared to be putting its faith in the judicial process. In its Raipur national executive in July 2003, the BJP stated its inability to take the legislation route on Ayodhya without the backing of the other partners of the NDA, and of opposition parties like the Congress.
In 2003, the RSS mentioned Kashi and Mathura along with Ayodhya for the first time since 1959. The ABKM that year extended “unqualified support to the just demand of the Hindu society for restoration of the holy shrines of Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi to them”.
It said: “Bhagwan Ram, Bhagwan Krishna and Bhagwan Shankar symbolise Bharat’s age-old civilisation, cultural and spiritual identity. Restoration of the pristine glory of these holy places is the bounden duty of independent Bharat… It is not out of place here to remind the countrymen about the restoration of the glory of Somnath immediately after independence. On the same lines, restoration of three other important holy places — Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi — should also be done.”
The ABKM called upon “the Muslim leadership to seize the historic opportunity and give up their claim over the sites at Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi so as to pave way for creation of mutual goodwill and respect between Hindus and Muslims forever”.
However, the RSS did not return its focus to Kashi and Mathura again. In June 2022, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat questioned the need to “look for a Shivling in every mosque”, and said the RSS was not in favour of launching any other movement (“andolan”) on these issues.
“…Hum ko jhagda kyun badhana? Gyanvapi ke baare main hamari shraddha parampara se chalti aayi hai. Hum karte aa rahe hai woh theek hai. Par har masjid mein Shivling kyon dekhna? (Why escalate fights? On Gyanvapi, our faith has been there for generations. What we are doing is fine. But why look for a Shivling in every mosque?),” Bhagwat said.
