As the date for the opening ceremony of the Grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is nearing, people are recounting the sacrifices millions of Hindus made to make it possible. When the Ram Mandir movement was at its peak towards the end of the 1980s, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh was particularly brutal towards the Kar Sevaks. Thousands of Hindus demanding a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya were arrested and put in jails, apart from ordering to open fire on the Kar Sevaks.
Now, a release certificate from 1990 has emerged that mentioned “Rambhakti” as a crime for which a person was jailed for almost two weeks. The certificate in Hindi issued by the jailer of Aligarh District Jail mentions that one Manoj Kumar was lodged in the jail from 28 October 1990 to 8 November 1990. However, the most striking aspect of the certificate is that it mentions that Manoj Kumar was lodged under sections “107/116 Rambhakti”.
वायरल पोस्ट..
— arunendra tiwari (@arunend60725538) January 3, 2024
नब्बे का दशक जब प्रदेश के सीएम कहते थे कि अयोध्या में परिन्दा भी पर नहीं मार सकता.उस समय सरकार की नजर में*रामभक्ति*अपराध था। जिला कारागार अलीगढ़ के प्रमाण पत्र में अपराध "रामभक्ति" स्पष्ट दर्ज है.. pic.twitter.com/rUGjuDevxg
More notably, the word Rambhakti, Hindi for devotion to Lord Ram, was pre-printed on the certificate, while the section numbers along with other details were filled in by handwriting. This suggests that there were so many people arrested for the Ram Mandir agitation that the UP government had printed a special jail certificate only for those detainees, and printed the word Rambhakti in the certificates. In this way, the Mulayam Singh Yadav govt had declared ‘Rambhakti’ a crime, as it was mentioned under the relevant section of the case.
Section 107 of CrPC empowers the administration to take preventive action against people to prevent possible unrest. It says that a magistrate can call any person, who is likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity etc, and issue a show cause notice to the person asking to explain why he should not be ordered to execute a bond. It does not empower police to arrest any person, even under preventive detention. On the other hand, Section 116 of CrPC empowers the police to summon a person, conduct searches and obtain evidence for conducting an enquiry.
It is notable as these were CrPC sections and no IPC sections were applied, there was no prosecution against the person named. It was just a preventive measure. However, the two clauses mentioned do not allow preventing detention. Police arrest a person only if such a person executes a bond as per section 107 promising to keep peace, and then is found to be violating that promise.
In a Facebook post, Manoj Kumar Agarwal posted an image of the certificate, saying that at that time, in the eyes of the government, Rambhakti was a crime. “The crime “Rambhakti” is clearly recorded in the certificate of District Jail Aligarh,” he added. He recalled how innumerable Ram devotees made sacrifices, were beaten by police, spent time in jails, while many others had to flee for a long time to avoid police action. He added that by Lord Ram’s grace they are seeing the opening the Ram Mandir, which makes them forget all the pain.
OpIndia talks to the person arrested for ‘Rambhakti’
After the certificate emerged, OpIndia contacted Manoj Kumar Agarwal to talk more about the document. He said that when he got the certificate, he didn’t notice the Rambhakti printed on it, and therefore didn’t inquire about it. He said that while hundreds of people were lodged in the jail, they were less scared in the jail compared to outside. He said that jail officials behaved well with them, opposite to terror of the state police outside the jail.
He said that those days were like the Mughal days, where openly displaying Hindu identity, like putting Tilak or having a saffron scarf could put one in trouble. He said that people were even scared of greeting each other with Ram Ram, fearing that police may hear them.
Manoj Kumar said that as per his information, such a certificate was made only in Aligarh, and was not made anywhere. He also added that jailer SD Awasthi, whose signature is seen on the certificate, had a soft corner towards the devotees, which is why they didn’t face any trouble in jail.
Manoj Kumar Agarwal also stated once Ram devotees were terrorised by the Uttar Pradesh government, and now the state’s chief minister is a Ram devotee. The veteran Kar Sevak also informed OpIndia that two police personnel visited him today, 3 January, to enquire about his well-being, and whether he is facing any threats from anyone.
Certificate is illegal, say experts
To learn more about the certificate calling ‘Rambhakti’ a crime, we talked to Moradabad Sessions Court Advocate Anuj Vishnoi, who said that it is an illegal document and a misuse of power, and there is no crime called Rambhakti in any law. He said that the govt misused its power to arrest people during that time. He said that the sections mentioned in the document 107 and 116 are CrPC sections, under which police can keep a person in jail for 14 days. He stated that instead of saying 107/116 CrPC, the document states 107/116 Rambhakti, it makes the act of putting the devotees in jail illegal, and it could have been challenged in court. He said that if the victim wants, he can approach the court even now.
OpIndia also talked to UP Police deputy SP Avinash Gautam, who said that there is no provision in police rules to make a challan mentioning Ram Bhakti as a crime. He said that if it was done, it was perhaps a personal decision of some official.
He also said that it is possible that as large number of people were arrested during that time for Kar Seva, several temporary jails were set up, and maybe the Kar Sevaks were kept in separate barracks in the regular jails, separate from regular inmates. And therefore this special certificate mentioning Rambhakti was created.
