Inclusion of Sant Devraha baba - the ageless Yogi with a secular image - in the list of Babri accused by the Liberhan Commission even though he died two years before the demolition, has set off a spate of holy fury in Ayodhya. In a show of aggressive posturing, two most powerful mahants of the temple town, the president of Ram Janma Bhoomi Trust and Mani Ram Chhavni Nritya Gopal Das and head Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP) and Hanuman Garhi temple, Mahant Gyan Das, have sought "public apology from justice Liberhan or be prepared to face the aftermath of his evil doings."
For records, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das commands unflinching loyalty from more than 2,000 temples in Ayodhya and heads the body empowered to grant holy affiliation, ABAP headed by Mahant Gyan Das is the highest recognised body of seers combining both Shaiv and Vaishnav sects. The Parishad, among other things, charts out the agenda to be followed at the Kumbh congregation.
"This is a lowly mischief aimed at hurting the sentiments of Hindus," Nritya Gopal Das declared. "Baba was a spiritual guide to everyone from a pauper to the most powerful and was above narrow confines of caste and community. Each saint and guru in Ayodhya is deeply anguished at Liberhan's folly and meetings are being held all across the town to chalk out a retaliatory strategy," he said.
"Does Justice Liberhan know that the departed saint he slandered so casually in his useless report could quote Quran and Guru Granth Saheb with the same felicity as Gita or Vedas? Or that the list of his callers even included late president Zakir Hussain. Dragging his name in the muck is a sin which needs to be atoned, a visibly disturbed Das said while talking to TOI. The matter, he said, would be taken up by the congregations of saints in Magh Mela at Allahabad in January followed by the Kumbh congregation in Hardwar.
Even as the former has become the rallying point of the campaign in Ayodhya, Mahant Gyan Das has reached Hardwar to mobilise opinion. Talking to TOI, the mahant asked, "How could Liberhan indict someone who departed on June 1990, nearly 2.5 years before the demolition. What evidence does he have - any documentary audio, video proof- of his involvement? The issue has upset the entire sadhu samaj and will not be allowed to let go easily. Let him apologise or pay the price, he said.
And even as the seers are up in arms, a defunct BJP in UP seems to be trying hard to capitalise on the controversy. Vinay Katiyar, former president of UP BJP and Rajya Sabha member, is already crying hoarse in Ayodhya "over the objectionable ravings of Liberhan who seems to have written a third rate novel instead of an impartial report." Now as the public outrage escalates in the town Katiyar is likely to scale up his tirade as well.
The Ayodhya Udyog Vyapar Manadal has also jumped in the fray to censure "Liberhan's blasphemy." All traders and supporters are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the needless indictment of the baba and burn the symbolic reports of Liberhan commission, said its general secretary Nandlal Gupta. The traders, he said, have pledged to file 101 PILs before the Supreme Court and the draft is being prepared. Sensing the potential the issue offers, VHP leaders have already got in touch with the seers. Nritya Gopal Das admitted as much.
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