As the Bharatiya Janta Party is on the verge of successfully closing the Ayodhya and Kashi chapters of its Hindutva syllabus, it opened the Mathura folder in 2021. With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visiting the pilgrimage centre 18 times, showering it with around 200 projects, some observers speculate that Mr Adityanath might contest the upcoming Assembly election from the abode of Krishna.
This week, at a rally in Amroha, he said, “magnificent temples were being built in Ayodhya and Kashi, how could Mathura - Vrindavan be left behind.”
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It is not just the less-than subtle hints dropped on Twitter and in political rallies, observers said a multi-pronged campaign centred around the Krishna Janmabhoomi complex that also house the Shahi Idgah Masjid built during the reign of Aurangzeb was built in 2021.
It started in September 2020 when a suit was filed in a Mathura court to “reclaim” the entire Krishna Janmabhoomi complex, claiming every inch of the structure is sacred to the Hindu community. It described the settlement reached between the Krishna Janmabhoomi Sewa Sangh and Shahi Idgah Trust in 1968 as “illegal”. Soon another petition was filed seeking removal of the 17th-century mosque from the premises of Katra Keshav Dev temple, claiming the mosque was built on Lord Krishna’s birthplace.
In April this year, an application was filed seeking the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey into the Mathura mosque and in December yet another application was filed seeking to stop namaaz in the Shahi Masjid for certain Hindu symbols are inscribed on one of its walls adjoining the temple.
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Also read | In Parliament, BJP pitches for Krishna Temple at Mathura
Simultaneously, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh gave a call to conduct havan in at least a lakh Mathura homes during the second wave of the pandemic and the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha along with three other groups made a strident pitch on November 16 to conduct the ‘jalabhishek’ of Laddoo Gopal, the presiding deity on December 6 and sought permission to install a deity inside the mosque. Though the call was taken back, it led to tension and massive security arrangements in the city, with four people nabbed for raising provocative slogans.
Around the same time, the political leadership of the party raised the pitch with Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh Harnath Yadav making the demand for the repeal of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 that prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya’s tweet that said construction of grand temples in Ayodhya and Kashi are underway and preparations are on Mathura kicked up a storm.
Party insiders defended his statement saying it was a call for the upliftment of the temple premises, not for demolition of any structure.
Possibly emboldened, Cabinet Minister in UP government, Lakshmi Narayan Chaudhary, who represents Chhata constituency in Mathura chipped in with a statement where he wondered if a temple would not be built in Mathura where it would be. He offered two suggestions: Lahore and Islamabad. Not to be left behind, Mathura MP Hema Malini said, “After the restoration of Ram Janmabhoomi and Kashi, naturally, Mathura is very important.”
All this while, Mr Adityanath kept reminding the electorate in Mathura, “Don’t forget who built the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.”
At the executive level, in September, the municipal corporation of Mathura declared 22 wards of the city as pilgrimage centres, banning the sale of liquor and meat in the area. It rendered several people of different communities who indulged in the meat and liquor trade jobless.
Random incidents of violence also began to be reported. In August, the cart of a Muslim dosa seller was allegedly vandalised because he named it after Shrinath ji, one of the many names of Lord Krishna. The right-wing vigilantes called it ‘economic jehad’ and said Hindus won’t like to be served by a Muslim under a false guise. The dosa seller renamed it the American Dosa Corner.
Locals said that they have withstood the attempts to polarise Mathura but expressed apprehension over how long they would be able to hold on.
According to old-timers, Mathura didn’t see communal flare-ups even at the time of Ram Janmabhoomi movement. At the turn of the millennium, when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, important centres of Hindu pilgrimage fell into the domain of the hill state. It meant that Mathura emerged as the most important centre of religious tourism in western Uttar Pradesh. A part of the Golden Triangle, observers said, the footfall in Mathura has always been higher than Ayodhya and Kashi and has been economically prosperous than its counterparts as it received a wide variety of tourists and pilgrims.
The economic aspect reflected in the letter written by the Akhil Bhartiya Teerth Purohit Mahashabha to the UP government to take action against right-wing elements who shouted slogans on December 6. The body of priests not only said any communal tension would have an adverse impact on the economy of the temple town but also sought to become a party to the suit, saying it didn’t want any change in the complex. “Similarly, Shri Mathur Chaturvedi Parishad resolved to maintain the status quo as decided by the 1968 settlement,” said Madhuvant Chaturvedi, advocate and convenor of Qaumi Ekta Manch. “My understanding is the petitions won’t hold as long as Places of Worship Act is there and perhaps that’s why the BJP members of Parliament have sought its repeal.”
Some observers felt the issue could not find as much resonance as the BJP expected because in the mind space of Vaishnavas of Mathura, Yamuna, Shir Banke Bihari and Shri Girraj Maharaj hold more significance than the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
Advocate Pavan Chaturvedi who hails from a prominent business family of the city said at least two of the petitioners are outsiders and so were the people who were arrested for raising provocative slogans on December 6.
Mr Chaturvedi who has served the BJP for more than a decade in the past said, “The BJP is like an orange. The surface is smooth but there are many divisions inside. Muslim is the adhesive that keeps them glued together. After the Ram Temple which has come through a Supreme Court’s verdict, it seems the party has given the grassroots workers a new task to keep it in power.”
With Rashtriya Lok Dal building a strong challenge in at least two of the five assembly segments in Mathura, Mr Chaturvedi said, the BJP needed something to keep its flock together.
He said Muslims constitute 15-17% of the population in the city and form a large section of workforce involved in making the headgear, dresses, and rosaries used to decorate and worship Lord Krishna. “At least 40 % of workforce in our business establishment are Muslims. Nobody raised a fuss when the SC delivered the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict. The past cannot be restored, the best is to salvage the present and build a better future,” he said.
Prof Zaheer Hasan, president of Shahi Idgah Masjid Committee, said Krishna is very much part of everybody’s life in Mathura. “We celebrate the works of both Surdas and Raskhan. Every Id, right after the namaz, my Hindu friends and officials offer me a cake that has Krishna’s flute and peacock feather embossed on it.”
However, he added, a slow poison was being spread by Hindutva forces and its impact would be discerned in the days to come. “What I noticed was when the December 6 call was made, the number of people going to offer namaaz in Shahi Masjid suddenly multiplied without any call from the committee. Usually, not more than 50-100 turn up in a day but at that time it increased to a few hundreds. It makes me apprehensive,” said Hasan, a retired professor of English.
Observers said the temple run of BJP is also aimed at mobilising the Dalits who constitute around 19 % of the population in the district.
Dilip Kumar, a Dalit activist said the BJP’s religious pitch was finding traction among the Dalits in the region. The Dalit youth, he said, that were looking at education as the way to improve their lot, till a few years back, are now chanting slogans for the temple. “When you become more religious, you gradually move away from science and constitution. This is what the BJP and its allies are working on,” he said, adding many in the community felt that the BJP would provide them the self-respect within the Hindu fold that they had been seeking for generations. “Bhagatjis (local priests) have cropped up within the community in the villages. It is another thing that when these Bhagatjis go to temples, they are not allowed to enter the inner sanctum and expected to sweep the temple floor but right now they are happy with the newfound respect in the villages,” said Mr Kumar.
Rahul Gupta, a patwari (village registrar), however, maintained the BJP had stopped reinventing and that the real issues were different. “Every weekend the locals could not come out of their homes because roads are choked with pilgrims headed to Banke Bihari temple. Pernicious traffic jam is a real issue.” He said BJP using religion for votes is nothing new for Mathura people. “The message from the top has only emboldened those carried a knot against Muslims in the heart but could not express it in the public. Still, I would say recent events might have sent a signal in other parts of the State. For us, it is business as usual,” he said In Brij bhasha, Mr Gupta said, “we would say hamau ghanta fark nahin padta (we don’t care).”