The disputed temple site sparked 1992 riots after the Babri mosque was demolished, killing about 2,000 people
The Lord Ram temple is illuminated after its inauguration in Ayodhya, India, January 22,2024. REUTERS
A trust that runs India’s grand Ram temple, whose consecration was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024 after decades of controversy, has overhauled its leadership after people involved in counting donations were accused of stealing millions of rupees in offerings.
The construction of the temple dedicated to the Hindu god-king Lord Ram on the site of the demolished Babri mosque fulfilled one of the biggest promises of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which draws most of its support from India’s Hindu majority.
The alleged theft has provided the opposition with ammunition ahead of elections due early next year in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, where the temple is located in the city of Ayodhya.
The temple site was bitterly contested for decades, culminating in nationwide riots in 1992 that killed about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, after a Hindu mob demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid, according to police.
‘Shameful incident’
Trustees of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, established by the Modi government to build the temple, met on Monday and accepted the resignations of General Secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra.
They appointed an interim secretary and formed a committee to identify candidates for a newly created chief executive position.
The trust did not disclose how much money had been stolen. However, authorities said that after the arrest of eight people last month, nearly eight million rupees (about $83,967) had been recovered from seven of them.
As of March 31, the temple had received 5.82 billion rupees (about $61 million) in donations.
“This donation theft is a very shameful incident for all of us. We all are hurt,” trust treasurer Govindadev Giri told reporters.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organisation from which the BJP emerged, urged Hindus to remain patient and restrained to “foil the conspiracies of anti-Hindu, anti-national forces who seek to exploit this unfortunate incident to malign Hindu dharma and society”.
Opposition calls on Modi to speak
Opposition parties have called for the trust to be dissolved and urged Modi to address the controversy publicly.
The prime minister, whose BJP has governed Uttar Pradesh since 2017 but suffered setbacks there in the 2024 national election, is on a tour of Indonesia before travelling to Australia and New Zealand.
“The country does not need piecemeal resignations,” Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera said. “It deserves a complete dissolution and overhaul of the trust, and every one of its members must face an independent, Supreme Court-supervised investigation.”
The BJP has accused the opposition of exploiting the issue for political gain.
Hindus believe the site marks the birthplace of Lord Ram and say it was revered long before the Mughal-era Babri Masjid was built there in 1528 after a temple was allegedly demolished.
In 2019, India’s Supreme Court awarded the disputed land to Hindus while ordering that Muslims be given an alternative plot for a mosque.
