‘Unity in diversity is a Hindu idea’

lok Kumar, the international president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), speaks to Ananya Dasgupta of The Statesman.

- Ananya Dasgupta

Q: The Ram Mandir is now a reality. Is the VHP’s original mission accomplished or are there things now still on your radar?

A: It was not the original mission. The VHP was established in 1964. We took up the Ram Mandir issue in 1984, 20 years later. So, we were not a single-agenda organisation. But then, this has been one of the main projects for us. The structure, which was built to insult the Hindus, is now gone.

The main agenda of the VHP is to ‘erect’ such a temple in the hearts of all Hindus, including the diaspora. For the Hindus of the world to unite, to live according to Dharma, to fashion their lives, thought and behaviour in accordance with the teachings of the Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Guru Nanak; and to show the way to a happiness that stays and is eternal. The VHP would continue to tell all families to live a Hindu life and spend some time for God, for ‘gau raksha’, for Sanskrit, for Vedas, to stop love jihad and conversion, to strengthen our campaign for ‘ghar wapsi’, to maintain peace and tranquillity, and to have such a union which can defeat all the jihadi and other terrorist forces.

Q: You've raised the issue about bringing temples out of government control. Why does that matter? And what's your action plan to make that happen?

A: The issue is about the inequity of the matter. Studies done by the British in relation to Punjab, Bengal and Tamil Nadu revealed that that in every temple, there used to be a gurukul and a gaushala. Social, cultural and religious events were held in the precincts of the temples. Family celebrations and prayer meetings were held. Temples were the lifeline of our social life. However, the Britishers started to take them over to make them ‘dead’, to turn them into spaces meant only for personal worship.