In its first statement on the issue on Friday, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) termed the alleged embezzlement of Ayodhya Ram temple donations “unfortunate”, adding that the incident has “deeply hurt the sentiments and faith of the entire society and Ram devotees”.
“We are all extremely pained and angered by this event,” RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, the second in command, said in a statement. It is “essential that anyone found guilty after the investigation faces severe punishment,” he said. The RSS leader’s statement was made after the arrest of eight people and the resignations of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.
Hosabale said the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) and initiated legal proceedings based on its recommendations. All this happened at the “earnest request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust”, he added.
The RSS leader called upon “the entire Hindu society to display necessary patience and restraint during this difficult moment”. He appealed to the Hindu society to “thwart the conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces seeking to malign the Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident”.
Hosabale said the “grand temple constructed at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi has become a centre of reverence, faith and devotion for the entire Hindu society, owing to the struggles of generations and the dedication, sacrifice and martyrdom of millions of Rambhakts (devotees)”.
He said it is natural for all of Hindu society, including the RSS, to expect the Trust to treat this “highly condemnable” incident as an extraordinary matter, and take effective steps to rectify all shortcomings in temple management and operations. Hosabale said it is crucial to ensure that the faith and reverence of millions of Ram devotees in the Ayodhya temple remain unbroken and steadfast. “In this regard, we expect the temple management and the government-appointed SIT to take all necessary initiatives,” Hosabale said.
“We are confident that through proper financial management, flawless and transparent operational systems, and an atmosphere imbued with purity, sanctity and true ‘dharmikta’, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will continue to strengthen the faith and trust of the Hindu society,” he said.
Sources told PTI on Friday that the SIT probing the case will conduct a re-audit of the Trust’s accounts for the past five years after the preliminary investigation indicated large-scale irregularities. The re-audit will cover construction-related expenditure as well as jewellery and other gold and silver items received as donations, they said.
The SIT will carry out a detailed scrutiny of the Trust’s financial records for the entire five-year period, they added. In another development, the Ayodhya police questioned key accused Avinash Shukla, who was involved in donation-counting work and was arrested earlier in the case. The SIT has so far questioned Rai and Mishra as well as Gopal Rao, who has been associated with the temple’s construction and management.
The Trust is expected to take a decision on the resignations of Rai and Mishra at its meeting scheduled for July 6.
The Congress on Friday said the “clean chit” given by the RSS (to the Trust) in the Ram temple donations “embezzlement” issue is “disgraceful and shameful”, and a desperate damage-control aimed at sanitising it. “The clean chit given by the RSS is disgraceful and shameful. The fact is ‘chanda chori’ on a large scale by people very much part of its network has taken place. It is a fraudulent outfit,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Pawan Khera tagged Hosabale’s video statement on X, and said: “The video’s real purpose is to lend legitimacy to the UP government’s SIT — constituted even before an FIR was registered, functioning without making its report public despite the sensitivity of the matter, and designed to protect the crocodiles while sacrificing a few expendable pawns.” He said the “loot” of Ram temple funds has deeply hurt the faith of Hindus across the country. “But what adds insult to this injury is the RSS’s sudden outrage over the alleged theft of Ram Mandir donations,” he added.
Khera said the truth is that if the RSS were sincerely committed to safeguarding devotees’ donations, “embezzlement” on such a scale would never have taken place at a temple directly under its watch. “This is the real face of the RSS: Piety is a performance; plunder is the profession,” he said.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP from Faizabad (now Ayodhya) Vinay Katiyar said on Friday that the sanctity of the Ram temple must be upheld irrespective of the ongoing investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations. “There are several temples in the country. This is Lord Ram’s temple. If any wrongdoing has taken place in Ram’s temple, it cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” Katiyar told PTI Videos. When reminded that the matter was under investigation, he said, “We are not concerned with the investigation. We cannot accept this.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced a statewide “Ram Raksha” agitation from July 5 over the alleged donation embezzlement at the Ayodhya temple.
