VHP body steers clear of Sambhal row, focuses on ‘reclaiming’ Kashi, Mathura

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said it was decided in the meeting that the Kashi and Mathura disputes would be resolved legally through the courts.

The VHP Margadarshak Mandal is a group of around 350 seers who provide “mentorship” to the organisation affiliated to the RSS. The issues marked for action in the Margadarshak Mandal meeting becomes the guiding light for the VHP whose Board of Trustees clears their execution. This time, the VHP’s Board of Trustees meeting is slated for February.

The development seems to be a reassertion of the point that the Sangh Parivar aims to maintain a distance over the Sambhal row. It also comes in the wake of different stances taken in the Sangh Parivar camp over such rows. While RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had last month cautioned against claiming Hindu rights over various Muslim mosques or shrines recurrently, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has flagged Sambhal along with Kashi and Mathura for making such claims.

The Sangh Parivar has for long claimed Hindu rights over certain Muslim sites such as in Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura, but it has been circumspect on some recent rows involving the Sambhal mosque or the Ajmer Dargah. A protest over a local court-ordered survey of the Sambhal mosque had led to the death of five people there in November.

Sources said the VHP is also not in favour of a Sanatan Board for running of temples as suggested by a Dharm Sansad organised by some seers at Prayagraj recently. “We have been pushing for a common law for all religious places. We do not support the idea of a Sanatan Board. Once the law comes into force, then separate bodies can be created of various religions for administration of respective places of worship,” a senior VHP leader said.

Apart from the issue of temples, the VHP body’s meeting also discussed the controversy around the Waqf properties, the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh, decreasing birth rate among Hindus and social harmony.

“The main reason for the declining birth rate of Hindu society is the imbalance in the Hindu population. As an important responsibility to protect the existence of Hindu society, at least three children should be born in every Hindu family. The revered saints of the Margdarshak Mandal have called for increasing the birth rate of Hindu society to keep the population of Hindu society balanced,” the meeting said.