For crores of Hindus, Ram Mandir is a matter of sentiments: Bhaiyaji Joshi

Shri Joshi said the present movement for Sri Ram Temple by the Hindu society is going on for over 30 years and the society expects that a grand Sri Ram Temple should be built removing all the hurdles associated with it. He said the wait in this matter had been inordinately delayed. The Allahabad High Court had given its ruling in this matter in 2010. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court since 2011. The three-member Supreme Court bench, which was hearing the case, has delayed the hearing for a long period. When the Court was asked when the hearing would take place, they said they have other priorities. It is their right to decide when to hear a case, but the Court’s reply has left the Hindu society feeling humiliated and pained. The Supreme Court should rethink on this matter. The society respects the Court, and the Court also should respect the society and its sentiments.

Answering a query, the RSS Sarkaryavah said it is for the government to decide when it wants to enact a law or promulgate an ordinance on the issue. The Narasimha Rao government had filed an affidavit saying that the government would help in the construction of Sri Ram Temple if evidence after excavation suggested that a Temple existed there. Now, when it has been established in the Court by the evidences provided by the Archeological Department that a temple existed there, no one should have an objection to the construction of a temple there.

He made it clear that the Sangh is not putting any pressure on the government on this issue. On the contrary, we are talking about finding a solution based on consensus. The saints should be consulted and a solution should be found. Any government runs on a balance between consensus and law. The government did not construct the temple in spite of having majority – this shows its faith in the court. The court too should understand the sensitivities of the issue and think on it.

There is no discrimination between men and women in Hindu society. In the Hindu system, no puja is complete without the participation of both husband and wife. However, some temples have their own rules. The society is run on the basis of not only rights but also traditions and beliefs. It would not be appropriate to take any decision regarding specific traditions related to the temples without consulting various stakeholders of the temple. The court should try to arrive at a consensus while giving its ruling in such matters.

Shri Bhaiyaji informed that a review of the Sangh work was conducted at the meeting. “We are growing since the last six years. The work has grown by one and a half times in the past six years. Today, the Sangh Shakhas are functional in 35,500 villages. In comparison to last year, there is an increase of Shakhas in 1400 villages. Sangh Shakhas have risen to 55,825. There is an increase of 2200 Shakhas since the last one year. The weekly gatherings of Sangh are going on regularly in 17,000 villages. Monthly gatherings are going on at 9,000 places. The actual Sangh work is going on at 61,000 places. The number of Sangh swayamsevaks has gone up by one lakh since last one year. The Sangh has formed Taluka, Blocks and Mandals depending upon the geographical conditions to expand the work. There are 56,600 such Mandals and we have reached up to 32,000 of them,” he added.

Bhaiyaji also pointed out that the Sangh swayamsevaks have been running 1.70 lakh social projects across the country. They are in rural, urban and tribal areas. Also, 25 big hospitals, 12 blood banks and 50,000 single teacher schools are run in tribal areas. The first aid service centres are being run in several villages through 10,000 Arogya Rakshaks to provide immediate medical help in general illness. Similarly, 20,000 women self-help groups are also run. Apart from that, hostels and coaching classes are also run.

The Sarkaryavah also informed the media that 30,000 swayamsevaks planted 13 lakh saplings at 2,000 places last year. More and continuous work would be carried out in this field in the near future. He said the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal has taken the issue of environment protection and water conservation seriously. An extensive work would be carried out in this field in the coming days.