LUCKNOW: The discontent and anger among the saints of Aydhya on not finding a place in the newly-notified Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerthsthal Trust seems to have ebbed at least for now reportedly after talking Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday afternoon.
Consequently, the Sant Samaj, which had to meet in the temple town to decide future course of action, cancelled its meeting over the issue. Earlier, after the announcement of the names of trustees, most of Ayodhya mahants, including Mahant Nritya Gopal Das of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, came out in open expressing their chagrin in no uncertain terms accusing the Centre of ignoring the seers who had struggled so hard all their life for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Sant Samaj meeting slated for Thursday afternoon was to be attended by all the prominent seers of the temple town including Digmabar Akhara chief Mahant Suresh Das. The agenda of the meeting was to demand the top post in the trust for Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
“It is an insult to the Mahants of Ayodhya as they have been completely ignored in the new trust formed the Central government. We have sacrificed our lives for the temple. We will not take it hands down. It is unacceptable to the people of Ayodhya,” Mahant Nritya Gopal Das had said while talking to TNIE.
In fact, many were taken by surprise when the name of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who was tipped to head the temple trust, did not figure among the trustees announced by the Centre. However, ample hints were dropped by the administration about the inclusion of the Mahant of Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas in the trust by increasing the security around his ashram.
Even last month, the dispensation had increased his security from Y plus to Z category. But absence of his name among the trustees came as a shock not only for the Mahant but also for his associates and fellow mahants who had been batting for him as the president of the trust.
Only three persons—Raja Bimalendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, Mahant Dinenedra Das of Nrimohi Akhara and Dr Anil Mishra, a practising homeopath, associated with Sangh, from Ayodhya were included in the Trust.
“The saints of Ayodhya have been pacified by the Union Home Minister. They have been assured a place in the trust by the authorities and now there is no disappointment among them,” said BJP MLA Ved Prakash Gupta.
On getting the feel of dissatisfaction among saints of Ayodhya, BJP pressed its district machinery into action and party MLA Ved Prakash Gupta, Mayor Rishikesh Upadhayay reached out to Mahant Kamala Nayan Das at his Maniramdas Chhavni and had a closed door meeting with him over the issue. Kamal Nayan Das is the disciple and heir apparent of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.
Meanwhile, Mahant Narendra Giri, chief of Akhil Bharatiya Akahara Parishad, comprising 13 different Hindu orders across the country, also demanded the central government to accommodate a representative of the Akhara Parishad in the temple trust.