NEW DELHI: RSS-affiliated weekly ‘The Organiser’ has termed the growing claims for restoration of “temples” which are now sites of mosques as a quest for “our national identity and seeking civilisational justice“, rather than a push for majoritarian supremacy.
“Instead of limiting the debate to the Hindu-Muslim question from the pseudo-secularist prism, we need a sane and inclusive debate on the quest for civilisational justice based on truthful Itihasa, involving all sections of society,” the editorial penned by Prafulla Ketkar, the editor of Organiser, said.
“From Somnath to Sambhal and beyond, this battle for knowing the historical truth is not about religious supremacy. It is against the Hindu ethos. It is about reaffirming our national identity and seeking civilisational justice,” said the editorial in a pitch which may appear to be at odds with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent thrust on a closure on temple-versus-mosque disputes.
While addressing an event in Pune, Bhagwat justified the movement for construction of Ram Mandir as “a matter of Hindu faith” but cautioned against raking up “new issues on a daily basis” driven by “hatred, malice and enmity”.
Organiser, however, had a different take on the claims of Hindutva outfits for sites where temples stood before being allegedly destroyed under Muslim rulers. The cover story, ‘Beyond Sambhal: Truth and reconciliation healing the historic wounds’, argued, “As umpteen numbers of worship places have been converted into religious structures by invaders, Bharatiyas, particularly Hindus, have the need to get authentic information on their Dharmic places. This will heal their wounds. People of other faiths too have the right to know their past.”
In support, it quoted from B R Ambedkar‘s book ‘Pakistan or The Partition of India’, “As the invasions were accompanied with destruction of temples and forced conversions… what wonder if the memory of these invasions has ever remained green, as a source of pride to Muslims and as a source of shame to Hindus?” This highlighted the historical bitterness caused by invasions, temple destructions and forced conversions, positing these events as sources of enduring communal discord, the magazine cited Ambedkar’s writing.
It also echoed Nelson Mandela’s “truth and reconciliation” thesis to argue that acknowledgement of destruction of temples had to be the first step towards reconciliation.
It drew parallels also with Ambedkar’s interventions during the making of the Constitution. “Babasaheb Ambedkar went to the root cause of caste-based discrimination and provided constitutional remedies to end the same. We need a similar approach to end religious acrimony and disharmony,” Organiser said.