Hindu religious leaders claim Art of Living founder may have personal agenda, call his mediation offer a futile exercise since the matter is being heard by the top court.
New Delhi: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and some other organisations have taken strong exception to spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s offer for mediation in the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, which is still being heard by the Supreme Court.
“It’s a futile exercise to indulge in any mediation at this point of time,” a VHP source told ThePrint.
Hindu religious groups and the ‘sant’ community of Ayodhya have been openly expressing their disappointment over the matter since the news of Ravi Shankar’s latest move started doing the rounds.
Many of them claim that even Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath made his displeasure quite apparent on Sri Sri’s involvement in the matter.
Pandit Kalki Ram, president of Nageshwar Nath Temple Trust in Ayodhya, alleges that Ravi Shankar may have some personal agenda behind this move.
“For us, Ram Janmabhoomi is an emotional issue. He was not called in by any group to negotiate such an important matter. Ask him who authorised him to mediate. I believe he is doing everything for some purpose. He has some self-interest,” Kalki Ram told ThePrint.
He said that the religious groups that have been involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement have refused to acknowledge Sri Sri as a mediator.
“It is all drama. His (Ravi Shankar’s) is an organisation that teaches singing and dancing. They do not have anything to do with meditation. All they know is nautanki,” Kalki Ram added.
Another key member involved in the Ram temple matter is the mahant of Digamber Akhada, Sant Suresh Das. He conjectured that the spiritual guru could be eyeing the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Sri Sri is eyeing the Nobel Peace Prize for himself and that’s why he had tried to meddle with the Kashmir issue as well but failed. Even in Ayodhya, he thought he would try his luck but failed as our CM made it clear that mediation won’t solve the matter,” added Das.
Sources said the VHP is throwing its weight behind the sant community on the issue, claiming it’s a “meaningless effort” on the part of Sri Sri to try to solve a sensitive issue like Ayodhya.