In the name of Lord Rama

Pujari Laldas was interviewed on October 30, 1990 for the film "Ram Ke Naam / In the Name of God" by Anand Patwardhan. Excerpts:

What do you think of the Vishwa Hindu Parithad' plan to build a temple?
This is a political game played by the VHP. There was never a ban on building a temple. Besides, according to our tradition, any place where idols of god are kept is a temple. That the Hindu custom. Any such building is considered a temple. And even if they wanted to build a separate temple, why demolish a structure where idols already cxist?

Those who want to do this are actually more interested in creating tensions all over India in order to cash in on the Hindu vote. They don't care about the genocide that will occur — how many will be killed, how much destroyed, or even about what will happen to Hindus in Muslim majority areas.

Since 1949 no Muslim created any trouble here. But when these people began to shout: "The sons of Babar must pay with their blood," then the whole nation was engulfed in riots and thousands were killed. Still they felt no remorse for the tensions they had created. Till now, Hindu-Muslim unity has existed in our country. Muslim rulers granted land for temples- Like Janki Ghat, and parts of Hanuman Garni were built by Muslims. Muslim rulers donated all this property to temples. Also, Amir Ali and Baba Ramcbaran Das made a ' pact of harmony between Hindus and Muslims, dividing the Janma- bhooml so Muslims could pray in one part and Hindus in the other. Now, all this effort has been laid to waste.

All the communal riots that have rocked India have been caused for financial and political gain lt has nothing to do with Ram's birthplace I am the priest of the Ram Janma-bhoomi temple and I honestly say that until today VHP members have never made a single offering or even prayed at the temple. Instead they created obstacles and it took a writ petition to get prayers restarted. So the local populace never accepted them. But tbere are some priests who are greedy and were bought. Then the Ram templr bricks cam-paign began and they built their own rooms and houses. They fooled the public and made big buildings. They collected millions in donations which they deposited in various banks, some of it into their personal ac counts. So, if people are killed, they don't care. All they care about is money and power. Those who talk of a Hindu nation and create violence in the name of Ram are from the upper castes and they all love the good life. There's not an iota of renunciation or sacrifice or public concern in them. They merely exploit people's religious feelings in order to maintain-their own lifestyles.

And instead of going on foot we go by air — we go first class and live in air-conditioning. So, where once we renounced worldly comforts in order to meditate and work for the public good, now we are so fully immersed in worldly matters that we can only think in materialistic terms What can we say of today's religious leaders? They merely perpetuate the material order. Big businessmen say: "Defend the Hindu religion" and the country's rich, like Ashok Singhal here, claim themselves to be devotees of Ram. Was It Ram's ideal that the people must starve to death? This great deprivation in our country — shouldn't our religious leaders be concerned with it? If yuu have money or if the rich listen to you, shouldn't you use that money to help the poor? Like Mother Teresa does? Or like our religious leaders did in the past?

http://www.patwardhan.com/reviews/rkn_laldas.htm

Attack on a mahant
PURNIMA S. TRIPATHI
THERE is much more to Ayodhya than mandir-masjid politics. The city has come to symbolise much of what has gone wrong with Hinduism. It has been witness to bloody battles, many of them between sants and mahants for control of wealth of their respective peeths and temples. These murky affairs, normally kept hidden, attracted national attention when Mahant Nrityagopal Das, vice-president of Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, the trust that has been entrusted by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) with the responsibility of building a Ram temple at Ayodhya, was attacked with crude bombs on May 28 while he was on his way to the Saryu river. The mahant survived with bruised legs and some splinter injuries, but his personal bodyguard and four others sustained serious injuries.

As is customary with it in such cases, the VHP instantly blamed it on ISI (the Inter-Services Intelligence) of Pakistan. Mahant himself attributed the attack to the ISI and terrorists. However, one of his own ex-disciples, Mahant Devram Das Vedanti, has now turned out to be the accused. Vedanti was removed by Nrityagopal Das from the control of the prosperous Radhaballabh Kunj temple.

There, however, is a twist in the tale. It was not just a jilted disciple seeking revenge for losing some property. It is claimed that Mahant Vedanti had the backing of the president of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, Ramchandra Paramhans, and also enjoyed the patronage of the BJP's member of Parliament from Faizabad Vinay Katiyar. According to unconfirmed reports, the attack also has a lot to do with the control of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, which is overflowing with cash.

The State government promptly announced a high-level inquiry into the matter, but no arrests were made. The attack has brought the already beleagured State government under fire from the sants and mahants in Ayodhya; many of them reportedly blame the Chief Minister for the incident. According to them, a recent government order withdrew the security provided to them, exposing them to attacks by the ISI and terrorists. Two gunmen provided to Mahant Nrityagopal Das were withdrawn early this month after the government unveiled its new security policy and he was asked to deposit money for the security cover.

There was a similar attack on Paramhans on May 15 last year. Although control over property was the apparent reason in that case too, the VHP raised the ISI bogey and some Muslim youth were rounded up. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry was ordered, but no one has heard anything about the report yet. Baba Lal Das, again a member of Nyas, was murdered a few years ago, and property dispute was said to be at the core of that case.

It was with a view to controlling the huge wealth of religious places that Ram Prakash Gupta as Chief Minister brought in the Dharamsampada Bill (Religious Places Property Bill) last year. Had it been made an Act, the State government would have gained some control over the money matters of religious places. But the VHP raised a ruckus and the government was forced to drop the bill.

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1812/18120420.htm

This is an excellent documentary. I had the opportunity to watch it at a special screening where Patwardhan took questions after the viewing.

I do believe the thread would have been more effective with this title:

Uttar Pradesh: commualism and violence in the name of Ram

Special rules apply to Hindia.

panini press wrote:This is an excellent documentary. I had the opportunity to watch it at a special screening where Patwardhan took questions after the viewing.

I do believe the thread would have been more effective with this title:

Uttar Pradesh: commualism and violence in the name of Ram

in fact the kar sewaks who destroyed the mosque were outsiders i.e. not UPites. they had been brought in specially for this purpose.

Rashmun wrote:

panini press wrote:This is an excellent documentary. I had the opportunity to watch it at a special screening where Patwardhan took questions after the viewing.

I do believe the thread would have been more effective with this title:

Uttar Pradesh: commualism and violence in the name of Ram

in fact the kar sewaks who destroyed the mosque were outsiders i.e. not UPites. they had been brought in specially for this purpose.

Are you suggesting that Uttar Pradeshis had no role to play in the demolition of Babri Masjid? Or in the communal violence before and after?