New Delhi: Stressing that no one is above the law and no effort is being made to shield anyone, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Alok Kumar told ThePrint in an interview Friday that police will also investigate allegations against Champat Rai, the general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and VHP vice-president.
The trust is an autonomous body constituted by the government of India that manages the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“I will repeat, the police have the jurisdiction and a duty to investigate allegations against anybody. (And since you particularly named Champat Rai) I would say the police would investigate the allegations against Champat-ji also, against Anil Mishra also, against Gopal-ji also. Nobody would be spared. Everybody is equal before the law. And there would be no effort to shield any person,” he told ThePrint.
The alleged donation theft controversy surfaced on 7 June, triggering widespread concern that led the state government to constitute a three-member SIT to investigate the matter. The panel was tasked with submitting its findings within 15 days. An FIR was filed in the matter Thursday.
Kumar also said that after the Ram Mandir verdict and the formation of the trust, the VHP formally wrote to the trust and offered to provide assistance in collecting money for them.
“And we ran a 40-day campaign to collect money. I don’t remember the year. It was a year after—I mean, it was sometime after the formation of the trust. A well-publicised movement, and we visited 12.5 crore houses. If a house has an average of five persons, then we collected donations from 65 crore persons, a sum of Rs 3,300 crore, and handed it over to the trust that has constructed the temple. And the accounts of all those collections have been examined and audited. And there is no allegation whatsoever, even a wild allegation, that anything negative was held in those collections,” he said.
“We had told our workers not to accept a rupee in cash. All monies were collected by cheque in a system, whereby, by the evening, we would get a total of whatever had been collected during the day and deposited in a bank. And every single transaction can still be identified through the system we had put in. So that was the time when we had collected. There is accountability with systems in place. And every single rupee collected during the campaign is accounted for,” he said, advocating a similar system for the Ram Mandir trust.
“There should be a foolproof system of collection of money, counting it, and depositing it,” he said.
When asked about possible role or negligence on the part of Rai, considering his senior position and his driver being named, Kumar said: “Possibly. But I am not investigating the crime; the police are. Let the police find out. Action should be taken against anyone, whatever position they may hold—I insist upon it. Yes, action should be taken against anyone whom the police finds guilty,” he added.
‘Need fast-track investigation’
While pointing out that Hindus were hurt over the controversy surrounding the alleged misappropriation of donations to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Kumar said a fast-track investigation into the issue is needed, along with a professional chief executive officer (CEO) to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Ram Mandir.
When asked about the perception that junior employees were named in the FIR by Uttar Pradesh police following the SIT’s recommendations (the SIT was constituted at the behest of the trust by the Uttar Pradesh government), Kumar said that while a few persons were named specifically by the SIT based on the evidence they collected and they appear by name in the FIR, “after those eight names, it says, ‘and other unidentified persons’. It is my understanding that this FIR does not limit the jurisdiction of the police to investigate these persons only. They have to investigate the crime substantially and comprehensively.”
He added that any allegations made against anyone irrespective of their position will be investigated. “The mandate of the police is to investigate the whole spectrum of the allegations made against anybody in that trust,” he added.
‘Why doesn’t Akhilesh file an FIR?’
The VHP chief also said that anyone with information about the commission of any offence is free to file an FIR.
“Shri Akhilesh Yadav says that he has the evidence with him. Why doesn’t Akhilesh Yadav file an FIR? And I will repeat my previous statement. The investigation in the FIR filed by the trust in no way limits the police to question these eight people only. They have a mandate. They have a duty to investigate the whole incident and all the allegations made against even senior persons,” he added.
Kumar maintained that the trust should have functioned in a better and more efficient manner, calling the embezzlement of funds an unfortunate incident.
“I agree that it has hurt the sentiments of Hindus. And if it was going on for some time, it is all the more serious. I’ll not comment at present on the merits of the case. I would only say that we would wish that the police would perform its duty of investigating the entire incident and include all such persons in their charge sheet who they consider have breached the law,” he added.
Kumar also said that the trust must consider appointing a CEO—a senior person who has experience of running such big organisations. “I believe that standard operating procedures must be prescribed for everything and adhered to. I believe that all modern equipment, methods, and gadgets should be put in place to make it impossible to divert even Rs 1 of Ramji’s funds,” he added.
He said the CEO must be appointed by the trust and not by the government.
‘Hindus are very hurt’
Kumar further said there is no denying that Hindu devotees feel hurt and expressed regret over the issue. “Yes, we all feel hurt. We are all sorry for it. And this hurt can be redeemed. The confidence can be restored if it is ensured that there is an honest, painstaking inquiry, to be completed within a definite time frame, the charge sheet to be filed in a fast-track court, day-to-day hearing, early conclusion.”
“And I would wish that within four to five months, after completion of every procedural thing, the guilty persons go behind jail doors to suffer their punishment,” he said.
“This is the only way to restore confidence. And secondly, as I said, foolproof systems should be put in place. If we do these two things, then the confidence of people in the management can be restored despite this period of aberration,” he suggested.
Allaying people’s fears that the donated gold and silver jewellery had gone missing, Kumar said the trust had displayed all such gifts received and had invited the press to look at them.
“This is a period when anybody can make any wild allegation. But those kalash, those crowns, they all are there,” he said.
The Opposition has been critical and questioned the ruling BJP government ahead of the significant Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
However, Kumar maintained that the issue is also being politicised. “I do believe that certain parties are taking it as a campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections—Samajwadi Party and others, including the Aam Aadmi Party, including the Congress.”
‘Faith of people intact’
“I saw a very strange statement. Since Kejriwal-ji was to visit the Ram Temple today, the FIR was registered yesterday. What is the connection between the two? And these people are teaching us honesty—those who all have charge sheets against them. So this is a campaign for the 2027 elections, with exaggerations, with abuses, with wild allegations, with irresponsible statements. And it may be that after these matters are investigated, and the people who made extreme allegations with not an iota of evidence to support them, maybe then we consider what action can be taken against them,” he added.
Despite the controversy, Kumar said the faith of the people was intact and the controversy would not impact Mathura or Kashi if similar donation drives were to be conducted for them.
“I don’t think so (whether people will not donate). The relationship of people with Ram is intact. The relationship of people with Krishna Janmabhoomi is intact. The relationship of the general public, general Hindus, with Kashi Vishwanath is intact. So they will not be impacted by this, I don’t think. But why do we worry about it today? There would be no dearth of money for the construction of temples for Lord Krishna at his birthplace and for the Shiva temple there,” he added.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)