RSS mouthpiece contradicts Mohan Bhagwat’s warning on masjid-mandir disputes – ’denying right to know truth…’

Knowing the real history of disputed sites and structures is important for ‘civilisational justice,’ the latest issue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated magazine, the Organiser, says, days after Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat warned against fresh temple-mosque disputes in the country.

The magazine has carried a cover story titled 'Battle for Civilisational Justice' on the Sambhal Jama Masjid controversy, where it has claimed how a temple ‘existed in place’ of the mosque in the Uttar Pradesh town, a report in The Indian Express said.

“The time is ripe to address this quest for civilisational justice. Babasaheb Ambedkar went to the root cause of caste-based discrimination and provided constitutional remedies to end the same. We need a similar approach to end the religious acrimony and disharmony,” the magazine editorial by editor Prafulla Ketkar reads, according to theThe Indian Express report.

The editorial doesn't refer to Bhagwat’s warning on temple-mosque disputes. Instead, it says that the demand for truth in the context of religious spaces that were historically invaded or demolished is a necessary undertaking.

“This approach, based on accepting the truth about Itihasa, disassociating Bharatiya Muslims from the perpetrators of iconoclasm and religious supremacy, and redressing the quest for civilisational justice, offers hope for peace and harmony. Denying such access to justice and right to know the truth just because some colonised elites and pseudo intellectuals want to continue with the application of ‘shoddy Secularism’ would encourage radicalism, separatism and hostility,” the editorial reads.

What Mohan Bhagwat said?

Earlier this month, Mohan Bhagwat said that it is ‘unacceptable’ to rake up new temple-mosque disputes in India while reiterating that Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was a matter of faith.

Bhagwat's remarks came amid recent debate over the Places of Worship Act, which has been challenged before theSupreme Court after a series of controversial surveys of mosques and dargahs in different parts of the country.

“Ram temple is a matter of faith for Hindus. The Hindus believed Ram temple should be constructed. But by doing that one does not become a Hindu leader,” Bhagwat said in his address on “Vishwaguru Bharat” at a lecture series in Pune on December 19.

Bhagwat said that the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. which was a matter of faith for Hindus, should not lead to further conflicts. The RSS' involvement in the movement for construction of Ram Mandir was an exception and that the organisation has no plans to lead any new movements in future.

On December 12, the Supreme Court restrained courts across the country from admitting or passing orders in any fresh suit or plea seeking the survey of mosques to determine whether temples lie beneath them.