‘Sin was committed’, says temple trust chairman as Rai, Mishra exit

Ayodhya: A month after the alleged theft of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple came to light, the temple trust’s general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra formally exited on Monday a few hours after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das set the tone in a poignant open letter on the entire episode saying ‘a sin was committed’.

In a major step toward restructuring, the trust also set up a panel to appoint a chief executive officer (CEO).The trust accepted the resignations of Rai and Mishra at an emergency meeting that lasted over three hours on the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple complex. The two had resigned on June 26 after an FIR was lodged and eight accused were arrested in the case.Trust’s treasurer Govind Dev Giri said after the meeting that Krishna Mohan, inducted as a member last year in place of Kameshwar Chaupal, would function as the officiating general secretary till new arrangements are made.

Krishna Mohan is a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and RSS functionary from Hardoi. Besides, the trust also removed Gopal Nagarkatte, an RSS member from Karnataka, from the list of special invitees.“I have been entrusted with the responsibility of discharging the general secretary’s duties in an acting capacity until a new General Secretary is appointed. Anyone found guilty in this matter, we will insist and remain firm in our insistence that they receive appropriate punishment in accordance with justice,” Krishna Mohan told mediapersons.

In a significant development, the trust formed a three-member committee to recommend suitable names for the selection of a CEO to run its day-to-day activities. Justice (rtd) Pramod Kohli, Lt Gen (rtd) Vishnukant Chaturvedi and Suresh Haware would be the members of this panel. TOI had reported on Sunday that selecting the CEO would be a key discussion point at the meeting.The trust will meet again on July 22 to discuss the report of the SIT, set up by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to probe the theft, and the induction of new trustees. “We anticipate that the SIT’s final report will be available to us by that time; we are meeting on the 22 to deliberate on that report and to appoint additional trustees.

We wish to state unequivocally that theft is theft, and the SIT is currently investigating the matter; that is the administration’s responsibility,” Giri said.The meeting of the Trust started at 3.15 pm at the guest house inside the Ram Janmabhoomi complex, with seven of the nine permanent members, including Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das, present. Rai and Mishra did not attend the meeting.Earlier, Das’s letter released just before the meeting, said: “I am deeply hurt by the theft that took place at the temple of Shri Ram Lalla.

Whoever has committed this sin should receive the strictest possible punishment.” He expressed confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath will ensure “strict action against every person involved in the sin”. He also said that this was a matter of faith for crores of Hindus, and requested that no one should indulge in politics over it for personal gain.The departure of Rai from the Ram Janmabhoomi Complex marks a tragic twist in his life dedicated to the cause of the Ayodhya temple.

He quite his teaching job in Bijnor to join VHP and emerged as a prominent face in the Ram Temple movement. He was closely associated with the legal battle in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit and was synonymous with the temple construction and its subsequent running since Aug 2020.Addressing the high-profile resignations, Giri clarified that the Trust respected their decision to step down. “Once the resignation had been tendered, the decision to accept or reject it was no longer in our hands; we simply had to accept it.

Consequently, we did accept it. At that time, we also acknowledged and appreciated the service rendered by Champat Rai ji,” he said. Giri later said that Rai had believed wrong people and those people had broken his trust.In its release, the trust said the truth would come out once the probe is over, till then there shouldn’t be any blame game. It also rejected allegations circulating in sections of the media that valuable gifts offered to the temple had also gone missing.“Allegations are made that various other high-quality offerings and donated items also vanished without a trace. We have brought the register containing the records of all these items to show you; we will present the details of all the items in question. We are going to display all of these before you today. Furthermore, we wish to inform you that we possess a register listing 2926 such items, and all of them are safe. We have brought these five specific items-- which have been the subject of discussion -- merely as samples to show you,” Giri said.Giri reiterated that the Trust wanted all those involved in the theft to be identified and punished in accordance with the law. At the same time, he accused certain groups of using the incident to malign the Trust, defame Ram devotees, and create divisions within Hindu society.Appealing to devotees not to believe what he described as propaganda, he invited anyone with concerns about donated articles to visit the Trust office, inspect the records, and verify the items themselves.

He said the Trust remained committed to maintaining public faith, ensuring justice in the theft case, and continuing its work towards the ideals of Ram Rajya.The trust also made public its financial details claiming it received Rs 3,264 crore in donations for the Ram Temple’s construction, out of which Rs 2,370 crore had been spent. Besides, Rs 582 crore was received as offerings (chadhava) and Rs 391 crore of this was spent on the running of the temple.Elaborate security arrangements were put in place, with additional police personnel deployed on roads leading to the Ram temple complex. The venue was shifted from Mani Ram Das Chhawani to the temple complex, citing security reasons. Access for private vehicles, including those of media personnel, has been restricted near the temple complex.