Temple movement comes a full circle for man who laid the 1st stone

'I was given the responsibility of taking care of guests, and suddenly received a message from Ashok Singhal that I needed to be there. There was no prior intimation, and I was thrilled to have my name etched in this glorious moment of a 500-year-long struggle,' Choupal told DH.

New Delhi: For Kameshwar Chaupal, the man who laid the first shila (stone) for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a life-long mission is coming to fruition.   

On November 9, 1989, when he was asked to lay the first shila (stone) for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, Kameshwar Chaupal said that he was as surprised as his friends.

“I was given the responsibility of taking care of guests, and suddenly received a message from Ashok Singhal (former president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) that I needed to be there. There was no prior intimation, and I was thrilled to have my name etched in this glorious movement of a 500-year-long struggle,” said Choupal in a telephonic conversation with DH.

Remembering the days that led up to the moment, Chaupal said that in 1986, after years of struggles and several movements, including the Ram Jan Rath Yatra, the Jyoti Yatra etc, VHP had been agitating to have the locks of the temple opened.

“In 1986, the Rajiv Gandhi government opened the locks to the temple. This made those involved in the movement believe that now perhaps the temple will be built. 1989, the Kendriya Marg Darshak Mandal of the VHP and the Dharam Sansad met during the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj and said that on November 9, 1990 – a year later – we will do the shilanyas (foundation-laying ceremony),” Choupal recalled.

He said that when the VHP announced the shilanyas in 1989, they had said that the first stone would be laid by someone from the Scheduled Caste, but it wasn’t decided who would do it. “The people gathered then – the sants, and the people from the sangathan – decided it would be me. I had no idea prior to this,” Choupal added.

Choupal later joined the BJP, and was elected in Bihar Council in 2002. He also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Supaul. He’s currently a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

Choupal feels "elated" to have the temple inaugurated in his lifetime.

However, there will be a possible absence of the temple movement leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti on the big day. Temple Trust chairperson Champat Rai, while inviting them as well as L K Advani, had said that they do not need to attend. Advani said that he will attend nevertheless.

“If people think of this (consecration) with faith, they will not see any sort of conspiracy involved. But if people think with an ill intent, then these kinds of thoughts will emerge,” Choupal said as he called Joshi, Advani, Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara “inspirations”.

“They spent the best days of their lives in the movement. They have been invited, but they are old and during this biting cold, it might be a bother for them. Ayodhya is also a small place, and it is not equipped to handle too many people. We have asked them to be there, and everyone’s welcome,” he told DH.

On being asked to shed light on the criticism of the Opposition towards the consecration of the temple on January 22, as the Congress refused to be a part of the ceremony, calling it a “BJP-RSS” event, Choupal said that there was a sound reason behind inaugurating it two years before completion of the temple’s construction.

“The deity is placed far away from the garbgriha, in a makeshift arrangement. It is not solid and is made of cardboard and plywood. It has braved a few showers, and is not as good as it should be. The area gets flooded, too. From the point of view of security, too, the arrangement is not safe. It’s a sensitive arrangement, and several threats have been made since. It’s better to shift the deity to a safer location,” he said, adding that the construction will continue after January.