VHP highlights association between Lord Ram, Dalit personalities ahead of Bhoomipujan

VHP described Nagpur as the “holy hub that sourced the Sangh-Ganga by Dr Hedgewar and the Samta-Ganga from the Deeksha Bhoomi hereby Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.”

Reaching out to SCs and STs while preparations are on way for the grand Bhoompujan for Ram temple at Ayodhya, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday highlighted the association of Lord Rama with Dalit personalities in the epic Ramayana, citing it as “outstanding illustration of social harmony”.

In a statement, Central secretary-general of VHP Milind Parande also flagged how sacred earth is being taken to Ayodhya from the birthplaces of Sant Ravidas in Kashi and Maharshi Valmiki (both Hindu Dalit saints) Ashram at Sitamarhi, Bihar; Mhow in Madya Pradesh — the birthplace of Scheduled Caste icon Babasaheb Ambedkar; Valmiki Temple in Delhi and heroic tribal freedom fighter Tantya Bheel’s holy land in Madhya Pradesh.

Parande flagged the “emancipation of Ahalya by Bhagwan Lord Ram and the high esteem shown to Shabari Mata” (both prominent characters in the Ramayana, which were said to be belonging to castes considered to be of lower strata in caste hierarchy) and camaraderie with Nishadraj (tribal)” as outstanding illustrations of social harmony.

Parande also pointed out that the foundation stone of Ram Janmabhoomi was laid in 1989 in the presence of many revered saints by “... A Scheduled Caste young-man Kameshwar Chaupal”. Chaupal is currently a Trustee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Parande said that all this, holding a press conference in Nagpur, where the RSS is headquartered.

The VHP leader described Nagpur as the “holy hub that sourced the Sangh-Ganga by Dr Hedgewar and the Samta-Ganga from the Deeksha Bhoomi hereby Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.”

For quite some time, the BJP and the VHP have been flagging the Dalit identity of many revered figures in the Hindu pantheon.

During the week-long 'Ramotsava' from March 25 to April 7 (Hanuman Jayanti), the VHP took out rallies and processions across the country carrying pictures of Valmiki, who authored the Ramayana in Sanskrit, along with that of Lord Rama and Ramjanmabhoomi.

This Shobha Yatra (procession) was carried out to all the 2,75,000 villages of the country from where Ram Shila (bricks for temple construction) had come.

In December last year, the VHP also pitched for a Scheduled Caste priest at Ram temple at Ayodhya.

In March-April this year, VHP raised the issue of persecution of Scheduled Castes by Muslims in Mewat region at a time when many Opposition parties were trying to create a Scheduled Caste-Muslim axis.

After the Supreme Court in October last year allowed the rebuilding of Sant Ravidas temple here on a 400 square metre of land, the VHP hailed it “a victory of the struggle of Hindu Samaj”.

It had earlier lent support to agitations for it and wrote to the central government in July last year demanding protection of the temple.

In the past, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that Hindu god Hanuman was a Dalit, while a senior minister in Modi government Rajnath Singh had flagged that Valmiki and Ved Vyas, the author of the Mahabharata, were Dalits.