When Bhagwat blows the whistle

When the RSS Sarsanghchalak is calling for a halt to the rash of 'masjids built over mandirs' claims, it could stem from the realisation that it will be impossible for the BJP government to maintain order if the issue spirals out of control

- SHEKHAR GUPTA

If a crow sits on top of a temple, can it become an eagle? Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat asked in a speech on Thursday as part of the Sanjeevan Vyakhyanmala series in Pune. He also brought back the Sangh's ambition that India should rise as a vishwaguru, or teacher to the world. This is something the Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have stopped saying lately. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is now evangelising vishwamitra (friend to the world).

While these statements sound merely rhetorical, they aren't. These were important flourishes in what appears to be a determined effort to shift the current discourse on communal relations in the country, give a sermon to the BJP and its vast support base - especially in the Hindi heartland, which is seeing a rash of "masjids built over mandirs" claims, Sambhal and Ajmer Sharif being the latest.

Since the Supreme Court has now called time-out on all these, and is hearing the old challenge to the Places of Worship Act, 1991, it might even be seen as a cue to the Court.

When even the sarsanghchalak is calling a halt to all such activity and activism, you have to wake up and pay attention, whether you are a follower or a critic of the BJP. In an unambiguous speech, he called out wannabe Hindu leaders, saying that some people think that by raising such (temple-mosque) issues, they can become Hindu leaders. That's like a crow sitting atop a temple hoping to become an eagle.