Chinmayananda for Temple

The founder of Chinmaya Mission, Swami Chinmayanda, has said that he supported building of the Ram temple at Ayodhya and that he “appreciated” the action of the kar sevaks on December 6, when the disputed structure was demolished.Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, the Swami said he “condoned all the actions” of the kar sevaks and that the demolition was a result of the “teasing of the majority community”. It is not our tradition (to destroy mosques… If it were a mosque I would have condemned it (the destruction), it is only mosque shaped… if they have been praying, calling Allah it would have been as sacred as Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna) … it was not a mosque (therefore) why should I protest”? he said.Moreover, the swami said hundreds of mosques have been removed in Islamic countries. However, for the Hindus, temples were an emotional issue. “How long do you expect the Hindus to lay low for the convenience of the rulers… if they (Muslims) need the mosque, we need the temple”, he said.The swami who interspersed his statements with the sentences like “a country means the majority community whether you like it or not”, “historic justice” and “the majority is angry now” said the Ram temple “will be made” and added that in a democracy “the majority opinion is respected”. He, however, felt that Hindus and Muslims had missed the opportunity of coming together and building the temple..“Now the majority is angry so they are demanding Varanasi and Mathura” he said adding that the voice of the majority would survive if not now, then in the future. “We only want to redeem our sacred places where they had set up victory monuments”. But he said he would never support a demand for handing over the Jama masjid in Delhi to the Hindus. Some sants from the north had reportedly made such a demand. “No, it is a national monument, we should not touch it,” he said.On whether he was for changing the constitution, the swami said the constitution is not ‘veda vakku’ (divine utterance) and if the majority wanted it to be changed it would have to be done. “Why are you afraid of changing” he asked.The swami condemned the dismissal of the BJP-ruled state governments and south the immediate release of the BJP leaders. He said the present government was neither secular nor democratic. “Its unintelligent policies” would prove self-destructive and suicidal “unless it wants to become a dictatorship” he warned.Referring to the death in the aftermath of the disputed structure’s demolition, he said it was the result of sentiments. “Sacrifice is unavoidable to create anything”, he observed. World history has shown this time and again.He said this could be mitigated only if the policies of the government were democratic. “Let the government make the Muslims understand that they will have to make the sacrifice.” The aspirations of the majority should be respected, he reiterated..This article was published in The Times News Service, Thiruvananthapuram on January 7th, 1993