Terror, Temple hijack the day in Amma’s Kochi

President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and head of the influential Ramanandi sect Swami Nrityagopal, in Kochi to participate in the 50th birt...

President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and head of the influential Ramanandi sect Swami Nrityagopal, in Kochi to participate in the 50th birthday celebrations of Ma Amritanandamayi, brought up the Ayodhya issue. ‘‘We shall definitely be doing something in Ayodhya in mid-October,’’ he said, on the first day of ‘‘Amritavarsha 50’’, in the Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium.

Swami Nrityagopal along with Murli Manohar Joshi had announced such a plan a fortnight ago at the VHP headquarters in Delhi. The difference between December 6, 1992 and October 2003 was to be that this time people would converge on Ayodhya as ‘‘Rambhakts’’, whereas a decade ago they had gone as ‘‘Karsewaks’’. However, no details of the proposed demolitions were specified.

Accompanied by a group of fellow sectarians from Ayodhya, including Kaushal Kishore Sharan aka ‘‘Phalahari Baba’’ and former MP Dr Ram Vilas Vedanti, Swami Nrityagopal said: ‘‘Janmat sangrah pe aadhar ek bar phir vibhajan karayenge toh desh ke hazaaron tukde ho jaayenge kyonki kahin gaon mein 80 per cent Mussalman hain. Yeh mandir-masjid ka sawaal nahin hai, asmita ka sawaal hai.’’ (If we divide on the basis of demographics once again, the country will be splintered into little pieces, since 80 per cent of several villages are Muslim. This is not a temple-mosque issue, it is a question of selfhood.)

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The mahant drew the analogy of Ram fighting Ravan to rescue Sita. He said: ‘‘Many lives could have been saved if He had decided to take a pacifist line and married again. But it was a question of selfhood. He had to do it. In this case, the legitimacy of the Hindu claim is obvious. Ayodhya has been venerated as Lord Ram’s birthplace since ancient days. Hazrat Mohammed Sahib came only about 1,500 years ago. Babur came only four centuries ago. So why should anyone object to the deep Hindu need to make a temple on this holiest of holy places, when others have their places too?’’

Nrityagopal is in Kochi at the invitation of Ma Amritanandamayi to participate in her birthday celebrations with a session to discuss the moral and material progress of India through the intervention of religion and spirituality. ‘‘She hugged us and she is indeed like a Mother with her child,’’ said the mahants. This acquires special meaning given that ‘‘Amma’’ is a Dalit. ‘‘But our sect, the Ramanandis, disdain caste, gender and religious bias. We bow only to God,’’ said Nrityagopal, adding: ‘‘Jaat-paat poochhe nahi koi/Har ko bhaje so har ka hoi.’’ (Who cares about anyone’s origin/Seek God to become blessed).