The RSS on Friday said the alleged thefts at the Ayodhya Ram temple had “deeply hurt” devotees and demanded “severe punishment” for the guilty, breaking its nearly month-long silence on a scandal that has put people associated with it under a cloud.
“The unfortunate incident of theft in the donation boxes kept at the Shri Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya has deeply hurt the sentiments and faith of the entire society and Ram devotees. We are all extremely pained and angered by this event,” RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said in a statement posted on X.
The allegations surfaced in early June following the recovery of cash allegedly stolen from the temple donation boxes. On June 13, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a special investigation team (SIT).
Eight people — mostly temple employees, many of them allegedly known to Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust members — have been arrested.
While the BJP’s central leadership has remained silent on the scandal that has engulfed the party’s flagship project, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has warned that no one will be spared, the remark appearing to upset the wider Sangh Parivar.
This is mainly because the theft allegations have cast a shadow over the 12-member temple trust – appointed by the Narendra Modi government – most of whose members have links with the RSS and its affiliates.
Friday’s Sangh statement marks the organisation’s first formal response to a controversy that threatens to undermine the moral plank on which it has built its public image.
The statement comes ahead of the Sangh’s July 10-12 Prant Pracharak meeting in Belagavi, Karnataka, where the issue is expected to figure prominently.
The RSS, which projects itself as the custodian of Hindu civilisational values and places character-building at the core of its ideology, now finds itself confronting allegations of corruption.
“No other movement or institution has attracted such a vast number of adherents, several thousands of them making social work their life’s mission, whose character and integrity are not doubted even by their most virulent critics,” the RSS says in its mission document.
Investigators believe the alleged thefts had continued for months after the temple’s inauguration in January 2024, raising questions over the supervision of the shrine by, and accountability within, the temple trust.
Trust general secretary Champat Rai and senior trustee Anil Mishra, who have stepped down under mounting public and political pressure, have long been associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS.
Their roles have come under scrutiny, with more than 100 lawyers of the Faizabad Bar Association demanding the registration of FIRs against trust members. Neither Rai nor Mishra has been named in the existing FIR.
Hosabale’s statement stopped short of holding the trust responsible for the mess but stressed that it should adopt corrective measures.
“It is natural for the entire Hindu society, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to expect the Trust to treat this highly condemnable incident as an extraordinary matter and take effective steps to rectify all shortcomings in temple management and operations,” it said.
It underlined that the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted the SIT on an “earnest request” from the trust.
“The current state of confusion and uncertainty must end. In this regard, we expect the temple management and the government-appointed SIT to take all necessary initiatives,” the statement said.
“We are confident that through proper financial management, flawless and transparent operational systems, and an atmosphere imbued with purity, sanctity and true dharmikta, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will continue to strengthen the faith and trust of the Hindu society.”
Hosabale also appeared to target the critics of the Sangh Parivar, urging Hindus “to thwart the conspiracies of anti-Hindu and anti-national forces seeking to malign the Hindu dharma and society by exploiting this unfortunate incident”.
The Congress dismissed the RSS statement as an exercise in damage control.
“The RSS is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Dattatreya Hosabale’s performative condemnation is not about exposing the loot of Ram Mandir funds. It is desperate damage control aimed at sanitising it,” Congress leader Pawan Khera said on X.
“The truth is that if the RSS were sincerely committed to safeguarding devotees’ donations, embezzlement on such a scale would never have taken place at a temple that is directly under its own watch.”
The controversy has also swung the spotlight on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, widely believed to have played a key role in the selection of the trust members.
Modi has not commented on the matter so far, prompting the Opposition to question his silence.