People who declined invite are politicising Ram temple ceremony: A Kumar

I'm of the view that common Muslims are not anti-Ram which is why prophecies that something untoward might take place in the country did not materialise, Alok Kumar said in an interview

Alok Kumar, senior advocate and international working president of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), in an interview with Archis Mohan in Ayodhya, discusses the disconnect between the Congress leadership and its workers, rejects the controversy surrounding the purported comments by the Shankaracharyas as “deliberately false”, and says court will decide the Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath disputes. Edited excerpts:

Should one view Monday’s pran pratishtha ceremony in the context of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls or is there a larger perspective?
 

We should view the ceremony from a larger perspective. We invited the prime minister. We also invited prominent Opposition leaders. We invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, as we did the presidents or chiefs of other political parties. There would have been no space for politics or allegations of politicisation if all had attended. What could be done if all others leave the field vacant and only the BJP remains? People who ‘declined’ our invite (a reference to the Congress) are indulging in politicising the ceremony. Of those hesitant to attend, at least three - Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, and Arvind Kejriwal – sent in their good wishes, lauded us for the task accomplished, and said they would visit later to perform puja. But look at the disconnect between the Congress leadership and its workers. Their use of the word ‘decline’ to our invitation betrayed their arrogance. But their Uttar Pradesh unit performed puja in Ayodhya. The Congress leadership is not in tandem with their party. 

A few Muslim intellectuals have said there was space for a compromise in 1990-91…
 

I’m of the view that common Muslims are not anti-Ram which is why prophecies that something untoward might take place in the country did not materialise because of the trust and faith in the Supreme Court. Nothing untoward took place, not even one instance, not even in one village or town or city anywhere in the country. A small section of Muslim leaders (mentions Asaduddin Owaisi) speak an extreme language to remain in media headlines. The Pasmanda (backward) Muslims, who comprise 85 per cent of Muslims, have come to understand that Islam is not in danger and that they need education, livelihood, and a better living standard. 

 

Muslims in Ayodhya have said they have lived with local Hindus in peace but are apprehensive of law and order problems because of outsiders…
 

This is not new but from the days of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Muslims of Ayodhya are people of Shri Ram, as nearly all of them are associated with the temples here and earn their livelihoods by making clothes, jewellery, and other items needed to worship Lord Ram. 

 

How do you see employment, business, and tourism opportunities in creating a ‘new Ayodhya’?
 

I prefer the word pilgrimage to tourism. I read somewhere that the development in the Awadh region will add thousands of crore annually to its economy. There will be innumerable employment opportunities in hospitality, transportation. and other sectors. There is a dire need for research on the nature of ‘temple economy’, and how a grand temple accelerates the development of an entire region. In Varanasi (after the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor’s construction), people’s incomes have increased at least 10 times.

There have been several controversies around the ceremony, including the Shankaracharyas objecting to  the pran pratishtha since the temple is incomplete…
 

Some issues are deliberately false: That four Shankaracharyas opposed the ceremony was utterly a media creation. Of the four, two had their respective math administrations issue a press statement supporting the pran pratishtha. The third has also given interviews in support. As for the fourth, and I say this with all restraint, his claim to be a Shankaracharya is subjudice, and he has opposed it. Temples remain under construction for years, but that couldn’t be a reason not to perform pran pratistha. In the Hindu tradition, pran pratishtha can take place once the garbha griha, the sanctum sanctorum, is complete. The temple belongs to all sects, whether Shaiva or others. We must remember that Lord Ram did pran pratishtha of an idol of Shambhu at Rameshwaram, and that idol did not even have a canopy.
 

The (old) Ram Lalla idol will stay in the garbha griha but it is small. People will do darshan from a distance and get barely 20 seconds on average, which is why we felt the need for a bigger idol. The old Ram Lalla idol will remain and continue to be worshipped at the garbha griha as its pran pratishtha has already taken place, as will the idol whose pran pratishtha will take place on Monday.

 

What about the future —Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath?
 

The court will decide (Mathura and Kashi). As for the future, the Ram Temple will help realise the objective of Ram Rajya, that people exercise maryada and decorum, including in Parliament, and not look merely at their immediate gains.

Several industrialists, celebrities, and eminent people will attend Monday's pran partishtha ceremony. Lord Ram's army had people from all communities…

They will be there. There is a ragpicker woman who earns Rs 40 a day, but when she found that our volunteers were collecting money for the temple, she donated Rs 20. We invited her just as we invited celebrities. Ten families who live in huts and donated Rs 100 each are attending, as are some of the 3,500 construction workers who are assisting in building the temple. Families of those killed in the firing in 1990 are attending. This ceremony isn't only for those at the top. It is for all who have Ram in their hearts.