WHILE THE Opposition maintained silence on the matter of an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report saying a “huge temple” existed where the Gyanvapi Masjid next to Kashi Vishwanath Temple now stands, the RSS and BJP indicated they were in no hurry to get into the issue, and would wait for courts to take the lead on the matter.

The ASI report, which was submitted to the Varanasi district court hearing the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi matter, was handed over to the petitioners in the case on Thursday. As per the report, “there existed a large Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure”, and that parts of it had been reused.

Asked about the issue, an RSS functionary, not wishing to be named, said: “In the 1980s, the Sangh had to take up the Ayodhya Ram temple as a mobilisational issue so as to reach out to people and get our concerns into the mainstream debate. At that time, society was not alive to these concerns, like it is today. Now, it is society that has taken up all these cultural concerns as collective concerns. What is the need for the Sangh to do anything when society is itself active? Now people are themselves filing cases and also discussing these issues regularly.”

An RSS insider also argued the same, saying: “The court asked the ASI to report its findings, and it has done so. We don’t feel any need to do anything in particular about this. There will be discussions among people in society… These matters are not exclusively ours, it is society at large, and it showed a lot of enthusiasm days ago for the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Temple in Ayodhya… Let people discuss the issues and let courts do their work.”

A source in the BJP said roughly the same thing. “I don’t think we are going to do much on this. The court asked for an ASI report, the ASI report has said what it has said. The courts will look into the matter and eventually find a solution, just as they did in the case of Ram Janmabhoomi.”

An RSS leader from Uttar Pradesh contended that the aim of the Sangh Parivar was to make society “think like the Sangh”. “We have little other work. Social discussions are already happening around religious and cultural issues. From Varanasi, 5,000 buses a day are plying to Ayodhya and all seats are getting sold out. What is the need for us to do anything extra, when society itself is showing great interest in matters of cultural resurgence?”

This argument seems to align with RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s statement in 2022 that the Sangh was not looking to launch any “andolan (movement)” into other disputes such as Ram Janmabhoomi, adding “par har masjid mein Shivling kyun dekhna (what is the need to look for a Shivling in every mosque)”.

The RSS chief had gone on to say that there had been invasions and destruction of religious shrines in medieval times, but stressed “peace”.

While sources in the VHP also said that the organisation would wait for what the courts say, it was with a rider. “Society as a whole should see that what we were saying is coming out as the truth, with each ASI report. And Muslim society should also understand that it is important to recognise these historical facts and accordingly side with the national mainstream, instead of going into litigation each time,” a VHP leader said.

BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh, who is known for his controversial remarks, however, said Friday that Muslims should hand over the Gyanvapi mosque site to Hindus, adding that the ball was in their court to ensure communal harmony.

“‘The Pran Pratishtha at the Ram Temple has been done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Sanatanis have welcomed it… But our demand has always been Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura… I will appeal to my Muslim brothers, when all evidence is out, hand over Kashi to Hindus, so that communal harmony is maintained,” Singh was quoted by PTI as saying.

He added: “We have not broken any mosques after Independence, but there is no temple left in Pakistan.”

The minister said there should be no “provocative statements”. “This is a changed India, the Sanatani youth has awakened… If someone tries to be Babur or Aurangzeb, youths will have to become Maharana Pratap. You should ensure peace is maintained, the ball is in your court.”