Singhal, the unifying force behind temple movement

Lucknow: When Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat recalled the struggles spanning centuries to restore the heritage of Ayodhya which culminated with the ‘dhwajarohan' at Ram temple on Tuesday, he gave a befitting tribute to Ashok Singhal, one of the torchbearers of the temple movement by making a special mention of his contribution.

With the temple standing tall in the heart of Ayodhya, the structure now boasts of restoring the identity of the town that would have been around 500 years ago before the temple was demolished.


"The ‘dhwajarohan' ceremony marks the completion and re-establishment of ‘Ram Rajya', even if symbolically," a VHP member said.

However, the struggle and those contributing to the movement cannot be forgotten. And rightly, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recalled their contribution and made special mention of the torch-bearer of temple movement, Ashok Singhal, among others.

Ever since Vishva Hindu Parishad, an offshoot of the RSS, took it on itself to give pace and face to Ram temple movement since 1980, Ashok Singhal remained its face until 2015 when he breathed his last.

Though there were many leaders, some of whom were an integral part to the movement to build a grand Ram temple, while there were only very few or maybe none like Ashok Singhal, who remained the face of the movement since 1980.

He was instrumental in leading every movement and did not mince words in slamming the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for being soft in solving the Ayodhya dispute.

Singhal not only led the VHP's temple movement, be it ‘karseva' or ‘shiladaan', he also was instrumental in bringing several important saints and leaders on the same page only to pave way for the solution of Ayodhya dispute.

Before Singhal, seers like Mahant Avaidyanath and Ramchandra Paramhans, who also wanted solution of Ayodhya dispute in the favour of Hindus and were waging their own separate, if not lone battle, for the cause.

However, it is believed that at the insistence of Singhal, seers like Mahant Avaidyanath and Ramchandra Paramhans joined the VHP's movement leading to the formation of a high-powered committee on the construction of Ram temple. Mahant Avaidyanath became the chairperson of the committee.

"Singhal is the only leader who became the synonym of not only VHP but also for Ram Temple movement in his lifetime," central secretary and VHP spokesperson Ambrish Kumar said, adding that not only he had trust of VHP workers but also of Hindus, hence he was called ‘Hindu hriday samrat'.

"Several attempts were made to divide seers to weaken the temple movement. As Ashok had great respect for seers, he became the bond that kept all stakeholders together in the interest of the movement. He was even instrumental in saving Ram Setu and did a lot of work to promote social harmony," Kumar said.

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