NANDIGRAM (FAIZABAD) ; Fifteen kilometers away from Ayodhya, handful of VHP activists performed “Padukas Poojan” in this sleepy village on Sept.27, to start. a new phase of its agitation for the construction of Rama Temple.

None of the top VHP leaders visited Nandi gram for the ritual in which thousands of pairs of wooden sandals supposed to symbolize Lord Ramas Padukas which his brother Bharat enthroned to rule his empire during the 14 years of Ramas exile were sanctified for distribution all over the country in the Parishads fresh bid to whip up Hindutva hysteria and prepare ground for an imminent confrontation with the Center.

The Padukas would be distributed to 300 odd divisional heads of the parishad to be taken around in every village and town of the country starting with a public function on Monday. Parishad general secretary Ashok Shinghal, who was engaged in a war council, with senior RSS and VHP activities at Kar Sevak Puram in Ayodhya throughout the day, said “the time for a decisive battle had come,

The subdued ceremony at Nandi gram as well as the whispering campaign going on among the VHP strategists who had reached Ayodhya to monitor the new phase of agitation, indicated a diffidence which their brave words failed to conceal, Shingal, who had long talks with Prime Minister P.V, Narasimha Rao recently on the temple tangle, was noncommittal about the timeframe for resuming kar seva,

VHP vice president Shirish Chandra Dixit was the only senior Parishad leader at the Yagna ritual performed in Nandi gram by Acharya Vishwa Nath Vaman Dev, head of BHUs department for Vedic studies. “It was only a formality.” Our real objective is to generate heat in the minds of the people so that the boiling point is reached when the time for a do or die struggle for the temple comes. Han Dixit, a Bajrang Dal activist camping in Nandi gram for the last 15 days said.

Though the Bajrang Dal storm troopers seemed itching for a fight, the RSS leaders who have been pulling the strings, were cautious. Their man in charge of Ayodhya, Moro Pant Pingale, arrived in the temple city on Saturday and was closeted with Shinghal and other VHP leaders,

The kar seva for the Laxman temple in Ramakatha Park area undertaken by the Rama Janmabhoomi Nvas, started on July 25 after it was shifted from the disputed premises on the Prime Ministers intervention, seemed to have slowed down significantly. According to Shambhunath, convenor of Bajrang Dal (Kashi Prant) who is supervising the work, “it would take another six months to complete first phase of Lasman temple construction.”

The slackening in the pace of work gave the impression that the VHP would like to buy more time before it really takes on the Central Government. Till then it will go on talking tough while its rank and file stir up sentiments in remote villages and towns and recruit enough sewaks for the show down.

Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992