Trouble in temple territory

There are obvious reasons for the people of the twin cities to oppose the VHP. Recurrent mobilisation of kar sevaks brings life to a standstill. Flow of true pilgrims and tourists is reduced to a trickle. Shops find no customers. Schools shut down. Vimlendra Mohan Pratap, scion of Ayodhya’s former royal family, has also come out strongly against the VHP.

According to Mahant Gyandas, Ayodhya and Faizabad have a long tradition of communal harmony. Muslims are an integral part of life here. All the garlands, floral hangings and decorative offerings made at the temples are supplied by Muslim artisans.

Each time the VHP announces its programme, local Muslims leave — either because they are too scared or because they are forced to. In the process, they suffer psychological and material losses.

Stressing he won’t allow the VHP to unleash such anarchy, Mahant Gyandas has warned the Parishad to stay away from Muslims. On October 14, a 500-strong contingent of sadhus led by Mahant Gyandas travelled to Muslim-dominated localities of Ayodhya and Faizabad and reassured panicky residents.

In another ominous development for the VHP, sadhus of OBC origin have come together against the Parishad. To top it all, Mahant Nityagopal Das has publicly expressed disappointment at Pravin Togadia’s provocative language.

Understandably, the VHP finds its job difficult compared to the last time, when it had eight years to gather the momentum that brought down the Babri mosque. Now it has just about eight months to the next general election.

And the Sangh Parivar’s temple constituency is now asking the inevitable if uncomfortable question: why did the Parivar forget all about the Ram temple in its five odd years in power in Lucknow and in New Delhi. Why this urgency before the polls?

The VHP tried to dump the blame on the prime minister by crudely attacking him the other day. But that only made the Parivar’s internal politics more complicated. M. Venkaiah Naidu had to defend his party’s poll mascot and put Togadia in his place. But the question continues to stare the Sangh in its face.

RAW deal

The Research and Analyses Wing (RAW) is one of the government’s biggest white elephants. It has an almost Rs 1,000 crore annual budget, accessible in foreign exchange. But there is no accountability. The money is sanctioned under non-plan expenditure and also escapes Parliament’s scrutiny in the name of confidentiality and national interest.

But whose interest does RAW serve? Maybe that of officials happily posted in European countries or in the US, Canada or Japan. This while RAW can’t maintain its minimum strength in a number of sensitive countries because officers flatly refuse to go there.

No wonder the idea to merge RAW with the Intelligence Bureau and make it IB’s foreign wing is gaining momentum. It will ensure coordination, the lack of which between RAW and IB often hampers investigation.

Another reason for RAW’s dismal output is the practice of repatriating experienced officers. IPS officers of 10-20 years experience in RAW have been repatriated and officers from the Railway, Postal or Forest services — with no expertise or experience in intelligence work — are filling the slots. Today RAW doesn’t have a single IPS officer at the joint secretary level.

RAW’s work culture has become so unprofessional that, the government has learnt, personal differences between two top officers are blocking internal coordination. So much for national interest.

(The author is a Congress MP)