NEW DELHI: On the one side BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj, was compelled by a belligerent Opposition to withdraw and apologise for his remarks equating assassin Nathuram Godse with Gandhi. On the other, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik stoked communal fires by stating that the Ram temple should be built on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid as per “the wishes of the people of India.”

Governor Naik’s statement was immediately applauded and endorsed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Shiv Sena and the ruling BJP. “Everybody wants to get the Ram temple constructed at his (Ram) birth land. Having this wish is not wrong," BJP leader Vijay Bahadur said. "There is nothing wrong in his statement. Naik was active during the Ram Mandir movement. Now we have chance to build a Ram temple, it is a national temple," RSS leader Sanjay Raut was quoted in the media as saying.

The Opposition voiced strong objections to this statement by a constitutional figure of authority. "This is an objectionable issue to demand the construction of Ram Temple by the person sitting on the position of governor," NCP leader Tariq Anwar said.

The Janata Dal (United) demanded the Governor's resignation over the matter. "We will request the President of India to remove the Governor of Uttar Pradesh as he has violated the Constitution," JD(U) MP KC Tyagi said.

Naik had made these remarks at a convocation programme of Awadh University at Faizabad saying, "Ram Mandir should be built as soon as possible. That is the wish of the Indian citizens and the wish should be fulfilled."

As the Opposition leaders pointed out, this session of Parliament was spent firefighting statements like those made by Sakshi Maharaj and Naik, and opposing efforts by the RSS and its front organisations to “convert” minorities at ritual ceremonies in districts of western Uttar Pradesh like Agra and now Aligarh.

The Opposition in both Houses of Parliament raised slogans and insisted that Sakshi Maharaj withdrawn his remarks. As soon as Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan referred to the Parliament attack on December 13, 2001, the Opposiition MPs trooped into the well of the House raising sloigans against the government and Maharaj who was present in the Lok Sabha at the time. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also joined the MPs raising slogans, “doshi sarkar hai hai” (guilty government down down) and “hey ram hey ram, Gandhi ke hatyare ko diya samman” (Oh God, Gandhi’s killers are being given respect).

The Lok Sabha was adjourned and when it reconvened Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkiah Naidu said that no one could eulogise the assassin of Gandhi. He said that the government and the BJP did not agree with their Member of Parliament. The Opposition rejected the response as “unsatisfactory”.

Sakshi Maharaj withdrew his remarks but in his statement said, “I withdraw my remarks.

But my friends have no issue…Godse killed Gandhi long back but you killed the Mahatma’s ideology in 1984 during anti-Sikh riots.” Amidst bedlam generated by this statement he finally expressed “regret before the House and the country.”

Latest News

THE CITIZEN BUREAU