The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right

by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

Once he had concluded his public rallies, Ashok Singhal began inching towards the event with great precision. On the morning of 9 November 1989, he’d sent his aide to request the VHP joint general secretary in-charge of the tribal-dominated districts in Bihar, Kameshwar Chaupal who happened to be a Dalit, to accompany him to the site. When the prayers for laying the foundation stone for the Ram temple had begun amidst the chanting of mantras, Chaupal was asked to place the first brick and thereby initiate the building of a grand temple for Lord Ram. With that one master stroke, Ashok Singhal had ensured that the Ram temple agitation transcends the scourge of caste discrimination which since time immemorial has been a limiting factor for the sangh parivar’s efforts at Hindu consolidation. At long last, it was felt in the RSS and VHP that their ultimate goal of uniting Hindus across caste barriers had been successfully conveyed to the people by not only laying the foundation stone for the Ram temple, but at the hands of a Dalit worker.