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If the announcement of Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in
Delhi reiterating his 'commitment' to hand over the Mahabodhi
temple management to the Buddhists is any indication it means that
the monks have allowed themselves to be taken for ride again.
On at least half a dozen occasions between October 20, 1992, till
date, Mr Yaday has declared such 'noble' intentions. Now, like the
much-trumpeted proposal to ban private practice in the state,
Mahabodhi temple declarations too have become a subject of public
ridicule.
Though Mr Yadav has been promising the handing over of the temple
management to an all-Buddhist Committee, the Bihar government
through one of its officers filed an affidavit in the supreme court
supporting the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stand on the vexed
issue. The Bihar government clearly said that the Buddhists'
demand was untenable as the Buddha was only one of the incarnations
of Lord Vishnu and as such Buddhists alone can not have a claim
over what they regard as their most sacred shrine.
That the chief minister has always taken the issue in a casual
fashion is evident from the fact that during the last five years no
official initiative has been taken to amend the Mahabodhi Temple
Management Act to accommodate the demand of the Buddhists. On
numerous occasions, the Buddhist delegations called on the chief
minister at Patna and Mr Yadav either promised to hold an all-party
meeting - as in the previous assembly the Janata Dal did not have
majority - or threw the ball in the Centre's court on the ground
that with the passage of Places of Worship Act 1992 (wherein status
quo is to be maintained in respect of all the places of worship
except Ayodhya, with August 15, 1947, being the cut-off date for
the purpose of the Act), the state government has little role to
play.
An idea of the casualness of the chief minister's approach can be
had from two instances. On one occasion in December 1993 Mr Yadav,
after calling a Buddhist delegation for talks, had them waiting for
more than six hours and finally the monks were given a brief sermon
on the issue of social Justice with reference to Buddha's
teachings.
Again in July 1995, during his Bodh Gaya visit, Mr Yadav almost
ridiculed the monks who had threatened self-immolation if the
temple was not handed over to them. Making light of the immolation
threat, Mr Yadav reminded the monks that life was too dear to be
terminated for trivial issues. If the monks were really to
sacrifice their lives, the war against social injustice had better
claim over the lives of the monks, Mr Yaday had said satirically.
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