Organiser stands for social harmony: Magazine editor endorses Bhagwat’s statement

The latest issue of the Organiser, dated December 29, has argued in an editorial that knowing the real history of disputed sites and structures was important for “civilisational justice”.

The editorial came days after Bhagwat, during a speech on December 19 in Pune, underlined that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was a “matter of faith” for Hindus but it was “unacceptable” to rake up “such new issues on a daily basis” simply because of “extreme hatred, malice, enmity and suspicion”.

The magazine’s cover story is on the Sambhal mosque controversy, where it has claimed how a temple “existed in place” of the Shahi Jama Masjid in the UP town. It has also described Sambhal’s troubled communal history.

Significantly, the cover story and the accompanying editorial have steered clear of Bhagwat’s cautionary statement on temple-mosque disputes, contending that the demand for truth in the context of religious spaces that were historically invaded or demolished was a necessary undertaking.

“The time is ripe to address this quest for civilisational justice. Babasaheb Ambedkar went to the root cause of caste-based discrimination and provided constitutional remedies to end the same. We need a similar approach to end religious acrimony and disharmony,” the editorial by Ketkar states.

Ketkar on Thursday said an “unnecessary and misrepresented controversy” was being created over Bhagwat’s speech and linking it with the editorial of the Organiser.

“The editorial of the Organiser is written in the context of the Sambhal ground report on December 18. The speech delivered by Pujaniya Sarsanghchalak in Marathi was on December 19. So contextualising Organiser editorial in the light of Dr Mohan Bhagwat’s speech is inappropriate and unwarranted,” Ketkar said in the statement.

He said the editorial was written purely in the context of Sambhal-related developments after the magazine team visited there for a ground report and “did not discuss creating social disharmony on smaller issues every day”.