Issues related to “freeing of temples” from government control and Hindu claims over Muslim monuments, such as the Sambhal mosque and Ajmer Dargah, are likely to come up during a meeting of saints during the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is holding a meeting of its Margdarshak Mandal, which comprises saints from across the country, at Prayagraj between January 24 and 27. “The freeing of temples is top on the agenda of the VHP as we are also holding a nationwide campaign on it. But the saints who participate in the Margdarshak Mandal baithak (meeting) will raise their own issues and those concerning the larger Hindu society. Contemporary issues that have recently come to the attention of Hindu society may also be discussed,” VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal told The Indian Express. According to Bansal, the Margdarshak Mandal baithak will be followed by a meeting of the VHP’s Pranyas Mandal (Board of Trustees) that will take forward the suggestions made during the meeting of the saints. Sources said hundreds of saints are expected to attend the baithak, which will host the key mentors on the first day, sadhvis on the second day, saints on the third day, and young saints on the fourth day. “The saints set the agenda and the Board of Trustees then takes it towards implementation. Issues such as love jihad, ghar wapsi and conversions, apart from what is happening in Bangladesh may also be discussed,” Bansal said. Another key agenda on the table, sources said, is pushing for Hindu unity across caste differences against the backdrop of the Opposition constantly pitching for Mandal (or caste politics) as a bulwark against Hindutva. “During a recent meeting it was decided that the goal of building the Ram Temple has been completed and our work now is to take Ram to every house and individual. Now our main goal is creating social harmony. The Kumbh Mela is a great example of this. People from all walks of life, different castes, different communities come together forgetting all their differences and taking a dip in the same holy waters of the Ganga. It is time to leave our colonial past that entrenched caste system and untouchability behind and become a united nation,” Bansal said. Sources said the meetings will discuss programmes that can take this agenda forward at the grassroots level. In the past couple of months, petitions have been filed in courts making Hindu claims over the Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal in UP and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan, among other sites across the country. A survey exercise at the Shahi Jama Masjid in November turned violent and five people were killed. Since then, the Supreme Court has stayed proceedings on such petitions. The issues, however, continue to dominate the political discourse in UP where the government appears to be on a drive to revive old temples by removing encroachments around them. The VHP meet also comes at a time when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has struck a note of caution against raising such claims. On December 19, during an event in Pune, Bhagwat 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”.
