Hindu preachers mull setting up Sanatan Board on the lines of Waqf body

Both BJP and RSS are cool to the aggressive posture of the Sadhus

By Sushil Kutty

A Dharma Sansad was organized in Delhi at which “firebrand” Hindu religious preachers and ‘Hindu Sants’ called for the constitution of a ‘Sanatan Board’ on the lines of the Waqf Board. Fiery speeches with a call to destroy the ‘Waqf Board’ or the setting up of the Sanatan Board (“abhi nahi toh kabhie nahin”) marked the Dharma Sansad. The congregation of “saints” and their followers was led by a Hindu preacher, Devkinandan Thakur, who assumed leadership of the ‘Dharma Sansad’.

Thakur must have heard of a ‘Sanatan Board’ from Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who had proposed the creation of a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at the national level after lab tests revealed the presence of animal fat in the “Tirupati laddu prasadam.”Kalyan circulated the contours of a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’.

But his call to make it a national endeavour was ignored. Neither the BJP, nor the RSS, or the VHP, forget the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, gave Pawan Kalyan’s proposed ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ a thought. Kalyan’s sanatana board remained in the news for a little over a month and then was erased without a trace.

Today, there is no stopping Devakinandan Thakur from sparking interest in a “Sanatan Board” to rival the ‘Waqf Board’. Is Devkinandan Thakur a BJP/RSS front? Let’s not forget, Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Batenge toh katenge’ is gaining traction among Hindus hankering for Hindu unity and Thakur’s ‘Sanatan Board’ and Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ are two ends of Hindu disunity!

Thakur is now the lead proponent of of a ‘Sanatan Board’ while Pawan Kalyan has stopped talking of ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ though the actor-turned-politician has been echoing Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Batenge toh katenge’ while campaigning for the NDA in the “Nizami districts” of Maharashtra. The Hindu nationalist party does not want to part with the Hindutva card and Pawan Kalyan is turning out to be a powerful and popular Hindutva icon.

Is there a north-south division in the Hindu community? That may or may not be, but there surely is a distinction of a loud Hindu and a committed Hindu, the latter represented by Pawan Kalyan and the former by Devkinandan Thakur, who doesn’t mind stealing thunder! The north Indian Hindu ‘kathavachak or storyteller’ has all but hijacked the Sanatan Board initiative from Pawan Kalyan to claim full ownership of the proposed board.

Pawan Kalyan was not invited to the ‘Dharma Sansad’ called to discuss the ‘Sanatan Board’. It was like the ‘Dharam gurus of Sanatana dharma’ hadn’t heard of Pawan Kalyan or his call for a ‘Sanatana Dharma Protection Board’. The ‘Chief Guest’ at the Delhi Dharma Sansad was one of the four exalted Shankaracharyas, and this holy seer, too, appeared to have not heard of Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board.’ Is this the Hindu unity Yogi Adityanath is talking about?

Devkinandan Thakur appears to have his own agenda. What exactly would be the contours of his proposed “Sanatan Board”, nobody has an inkling, not even Devkinandan Thakur. But Pawan Kalyan has drawn a format of the ‘Sanatana Dharma Protection Board’: “One, secularism must be upheld in a manner that ensures uniform response to any threat or harm caused to any religion or faith; two, a strong national Act is required to protect Sanatana Dharma and prevent actions that harm its beliefs. This Act should be enacted immediately and uniformly enforced across the nation.

“Three, a ‘Sanatana Dharma Protection Board’ should be established at both the national and state levels to oversee the implementation of this Act. Four, annual funds must be allocated to support this board and its activities. Five, there should be non-cooperation to individuals or organizations that defame or spread hatred against Sanatana Dharma.

“Six, Sanathana Dharma Certification must be implemented to ensure the purity of materials used in offerings and prasadam at temples. Seven, the temples should evolve not only as spiritual centres but also as centres for promoting art & culture, education, economy, environmental conservation and welfare with comprehensive planning.”

Compare this with Devkinandan Thakur’s ‘Sanatan Board’ and its objectives. The three main demands made at the ‘Dharma Sansad’ were the constitution of a ‘Sanatan Board’. Two, liberation of Krishna Janambhoomi from Muslim occupation. Three, take action against people who were involved in the adulteration of the Tirupati Tirumala laddus.

The demands were put forward very aggressively and the “sadhus and sants” at the Delhi Dharma Sansad weren’t willing to tone down their rhetoric. In their crosshair, the Waqf Board! Asked if he wanted the Waqf Board to go or the constitution of a ‘Sanatan Board’, Devkinandan Thakur chose the second. Other revered ‘Sants’ also wouldn’t mind a Waqf Board so long as there’s a ‘Sanatan Board’.

A ‘Sanatan Board’ with control over temples and temple gold and silver and temple lands is a dream come true for these “saints and sages”, many of whom have unlimited powers over the daily lives of lakhs of men and women. Devkinandan Thakur’s bevy of Hindu seers must be salivating at the thought of a ‘Sanatan Board’ owning temples, and acres and acres of land, attached to the shrines.

They also want imparting ‘gurukul education’ to sanatani children; putting an end to religious conversion and ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Thook Jihad’, and ‘Land Jihad’; also putting an end to ‘Sar-tan Se Juda’. Some of the more fiery preachers spoke of teaching a lesson to the likes of Tauqeer Raza. Devkinandan Thakur came up with the slogan “Abhi Nahin Toh Kabhi Nahi, Hindu Hak Lekar Rehenge”.

Finally, at the end of the Dharma Sansad, in its final fiery moments, came the promise and the ultimatum: “Waqf Board Mitta Ke Rahenge; Ya Phir Sanatan Board Bana Ke Rahenge.” The Dharma Sansad also took up for discussion the economic boycott of those who are “taught to kill” and one of the seers asked, “Think of the horror if all the Hindus become secular!” (IPA Service)