The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday demanded a thorough investigation and punishment of those found guilty of stealing donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He also urged the Hindu community to show “necessary patience and restraint to thwart the conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces who seek to distort Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident.”
“It is necessary to ensure that anyone found guilty after investigation faces severe punishment,” said Dattatreya Hosabale, Sarkaryavah (General Secretary) of RSS.
RSS breaks the silence
This is the first time that a senior RSS leader has publicly commented on this ongoing controversy. This came on the day former BJP MP and Bajrang Dal founder Vinay Katiyar said that Champat Rai, Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra may have to go to jail in the coming days. Katiyar demanded reconstitution of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the donation controversy.
The police arrested eight men in connection with this controversy. Ray and Mishra have resigned from the trust.
In view of the controversy that has put the Sangh in a bind, Hosabale said it is natural for the entire Hindu community, including the RSS, to expect the trust to treat this “highly condemnable incident” as an exceptional matter and take effective steps to rectify all shortcomings in the temple’s management and operations. “This is crucial to ensure that the faith and veneration of crores of Ram devotees at the Ayodhya temple remains steadfast and steadfast. The current state of confusion and uncertainty must end… In this regard, we expect the temple administration and the government-appointed Special Investigation Team to take all necessary initiatives,” he said in a statement.
The Ram Janmabhoomi campaign that culminated in the construction of the Ram Temple was led by the RSS’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The controversy over donations led to a political crisis for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the political arm of the Sangh Party.
The issue will also be discussed at the upcoming ‘Prant Pracharak Baithak’ of the Sangh in Karnataka from July 10. “The grand temple constructed on Shri Ram Janmabhoomi has become a center of reverence, faith and devotion for the entire Hindu community, due to the generational struggle, devotion, sacrifice and martyrdom of tens of millions of Rambhakts (devotees.) The unfortunate incident of theft in donation boxes kept at Shri Ram Lala Temple in Ayodhya has deeply hurt the sentiments and faith of the entire community and devotees of Ram and we all feel extremely hurt and angry over this event,” Hosabale said.
RSS supports SIT, seeks trust reforms
Given the consequences that the theft of donations could have for the Sangh and the BJP ahead of the Union Assembly elections scheduled for early next year, the Sangh supported the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to set up the Special Investigation Committee.
“On the earnest request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Foundation, the Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a special investigation team and initiated legal proceedings based on its recommendations. It is necessary to ensure that anyone found guilty after investigation faces severe punishment,” Hosabale said.
He also urged the entire Hindu community to “show necessary patience and restraint during this difficult moment and thwart the conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces who seek to distort Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident.”
Separately, Katiyar described the dispute as an attack on the country’s religious culture and the faith of millions. “I spoke to Prime Minister Modi about this. He asked me what would happen next. I told him everything would be fine,” he said.
“Champat Rai, Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra are likely to go to jail in the coming days.”
It was clear that the money had been misappropriated, Katiyar said. “Consider it theft in the house of God. This incident has sent the wrong message to all parts of the country.” He added that he was confident that appropriate action would be taken against the guilty.
He expressed satisfaction with the investigation by the Special Investigation Commission and said it should proceed impartially, although he claimed attempts were being made to protect some people.
Kunj criticizes RSS’s ‘clean chit’ in temple issue
The Congress on Friday said the “clean sheet” given by the RSS in the case of “misappropriation” of Ram temple donations is “disgraceful and disgraceful” and a desperate damage control aimed at cleansing it up.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh described the RSS as a “fraudulent organisation”, while the opposition party’s media and publicity chief, Pawan Khera, said the organization was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. “The clean statements made by RSS are disgraceful and disgraceful. The truth is that a large portion of its network has been widely hacked by people. It is a fraudulent outfit,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
“The way the RSS is defending trust despite this massive theft is not only shameful, it exposes the true priorities of the RSS,” he later told reporters.
