This upping the ante by the Akhara Parishad comes after its huddle in Prayagraj earlier this month where it passed a formal resolution to launch a campaign to ‘free’ the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura.
Hence, the VHP boss, refusing to be drawn into the discourse, looks extremely significant. However, the VHP has been careful not to object to the call by the Akhara Parishad, a very influential body. It seemingly excused itself by suggesting it has a “prime focus” to concentrate on and that is not “freeing” Kashi or Mathura, as of now.
In the tumultuous years of the late 80s and 90s when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was peaking and the Babri structure was brought down, a slogan resonated across Uttar Pradesh that almost all the VHP’s karsevaks used to routinely raise, “Yeh to kewal jhanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki hai” (This is just a trailer,…
