Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge has given an equally bitter retort to the RSS and VHP, calling for a public apology to clarify any wrongdoing associated with the alleged irregularities in the Ram Mandir funds. His comments have raised renewed criticism of the politics of the Sangh Parivar. Alluding to the mercy petitions of V.D.Savarkar, Kharge said that the RSS universe is “expert in apologizing,” and it should come back into the limelight to seek forgiveness if its allegations are proven. His remarks come at a time when there are rising concerns that the organizations which claim themselves as the custodians of morality and culture in the Hindu community have to live up to certain standards of accountability.
His assertion highlights a rising apprehension that organizations which regularly present themselves as moral and cultural custodians of Hindu society have to meet the same level of transparency and accountability standards too.
Kharge’s Assertion Points to Selective Moral Posturing by BJP-RSS Ecosystem
Priyank Kharge’s call is not merely political posturing. It exposes the hypocrisy of the BJP-RSS ecosystem which regularly makes use of religion for political mobilization but does not accept accountability at all whenever something goes wrong. Ram Mandir campaign was sold on religious and civilizational grounds. Hence, any allegation regarding financial irregularities related to the campaign raises serious doubts about transparency and accountability. Opposition politicians claim that if religion continues to be invoked for political mobilization purposes, then these organizations cannot shirk from accountability whenever any charge of mismanagement is made against them.
Savarkar’s Legacy: The Master of Strategic Surrender
It hurts that Kharge had to draw upon Savarkar’s legacy in his remarks. The man whose legacy RSS reveres had written several mercy petitions to the British rulers when he was in prison in the Cellular Jail. This has been a subject of criticism by people who believe that the mercy petitions were an act of strategic surrender, and not resistance. Savarkar may be respected as a hero in the RSS ecosystem, but the organization chooses to forget all about the mercy petitions while talking about unfaltering nationalistic pride and Hindu pride. The irony is not lost on anyone because if apologizing could be done back then to survive and prosper, why can’t they now when called out on financial improprieties at a temple built on decades of emotional build-up?
Ram Mandir Donations: Sacred Gifts or Low-Hanging Fruit?
The current scandal is damning indeed. The Uttar Pradesh government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation found prima facie evidence of embezzlement of cash contributions at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The alleged CCTV footages showed multiple episodes of cash theft; around 70 cases spread over a few weeks. Eight individuals have been apprehended, while cash worth more than ₹79 lakh has been seized.
Standard operating protocols have been flagrantly ignored: no guard during counting of cash, no frisking of employees, and recording of CCTV footage for only 45 days as opposed to 180 days as per protocol. The Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, with its long-standing links to the VHP (formed in 1964 by RSS leaders from M.S. Golwalkar and S.S. Apte), comes under the scanner.
Faith as a Weapon Without Being Held Accountable
Critics have long pointed out how the BJP and RSS make use of religious symbolism, temples and mobilisations through faith for political advantage, while evading scrutiny in case of controversy. The Ram Mandir project has become a trump card for electoral purposes. But when the cash counters go wrong and money goes missing, it results in deflection of attention or “grief” internally, and not investigations and reforms.It does not stop there. Bans imposed historically on the RSS (in the wake of Gandhi’s murder and the period of Emergency), allegations of involvement of RSS members in communal riots, and refusal of outside audits suggest that the organisation has operated by leveraging its moral high ground but without submitting to democratic scrutiny.The BJP-led regimes, on the other hand, have been criticised for protecting the environment from scrutiny rather than ensuring accountability. In the state of UP where the temple is located, the governing regime’s trust management has come under the SIT lens.
Faithful Mobilization Through Evasion
The RSS and BJP use religious symbols, temples, and faith-driven mobilization to advance their political agenda and evade accountability in case of any controversies. The Ram Mandir project has been politicized to a great extent. However, as soon as there are accusations of theft from the cash counters, the reaction comes down to evasion of responsibility and internal “mourning,” not investigations and reforms.
This is only one example of that. Historical prohibition of RSS activities after the murder of Mahatma Gandhi and during the Emergency, allegations of involvement in communal riots, and refusal of outside audits make it obvious that RSS uses moral high ground but not democracy. The BJP-led governments, in their turn, have often been criticized for being too loyal to the system instead of imposing uniform standards of trust management. At least, the trust management of the current ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh, where the temple is located, has become a subject of SIT investigation.
It’s Time for Accountability
Priyank Kharge’s call hits the bullseye: organizations which claim to speak on behalf of the conscience of Hindu society cannot have a different yardstick for themselves than for others. While Savarkar was able to apologize several times over, the RSS-VHP complex can certainly do that once – openly, transparently, and with actual reforms.
The citizens who contributed to the scheme in good faith need explanations. The citizens of India who are watching the “Hindu Rashtra” project being implemented need some transparency; not an echo chamber apology. Unless the Sangh Parivar subjects itself to the same kind of accountability that it wants everybody else to be subjected to, it is merely acting out empty moral posturing.
