Saying Ram temple inauguration brought true freedom suggests India should be ruled by Brahmins-Kshatriyas, akin to Rama Rajya; it's everything the Constitution opposes
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in Indore on January 14, Makar Sankranti day: “We merely got political freedom on August 15, 1947. True independence came on the day of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s consecration ceremony.”
His statement actually meant that the day of the prana pratishtha of the Ram temple, on January 22, 2024, built after demolishing the Babri Masjid in 1992, is far more significant than India’s Independence Day.
This statement has deeper implications for the Shudras, Dalits and Adivasis, who got independence in August 1947 not only from the British, who ruled India for about 200 years, but also from Brahmin-Kshatriya historical hegemony and socio-spiritual rule for millennia.
Ambedkar’s worldview
Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution and builder of a true liberative ideology and philosophy for all the oppressed masses in modern India, saw to it that the caste and Varna Dharma structures do not survive for long.
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Ambedkar drew a clear line between Buddha Rajya and Rama Rajya. Rama was a Kshatriya king known from only the Ramayana textual narration. As a Kshatriya ruler, he established a Varna Dharma state on the day of his coronation after his exile, per the Ramayana.
Vashista, Rama’s lifetime guru, repeatedly said in the text that Kshatriyas must rule under the ministerial and spiritual supervision of a Brahmin guru. The Shudras and Chandalas had no role except serving the three upper varnas.
Vaishyas' role in that text is not very visible. However, they were part of the upper varna.
Buddha and Rama
On the contrary, Gautham Buddha, who also hailed from the Sankhya tribal ruler family, gave up kingship and became the first Indian divine figure who established a Sama Sangha Society. He worked all his life for a casteless society in India.
Ambedkar’s movement for Buddha Rajya in India has a different implication for Shudras, Dalits and Adivasis.
However, what Bhagwat is saying in essence is that the British, who left in 1947, were not the problem for India, but the Muslims are.
Saying the Ram temple inauguration is the real Independence Day means a future Indian state and spiritual and social system should be under the control of Brahmins and Kshatriyas, as it was during 'Rama Rajya'.
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Buddhist heritage
His statement implies that the RSS does not accept the present Constitution adopted by an India practising Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. These values became a cardinal principle to all democratic constitutions in the world.
In fact, Ambedkar repeatedly said that those principles that the freedom fighters, particularly he himself, drew from the Buddhist ancient heritage and not the French Revolution represent the real ancient Indian heritage.
The RSS never accepted the heritage of Buddhism as truly Indian. Now, the RSS chief made it very clear that India’s Independence Day relates to the Ram temple and that the Muslims who razed that temple are the main enemies.
This means the Constitution adopted in 1950, drafted by Ambedkar himself, is not acceptable because it is based on the principle of human universal egalitarianism and Buddha Rajya ideology.
New egalitarian era
The legal code that reflected the Rama Rajya ideology was Manu Dharma Shastra. This code was burnt by Ambedkar as a symbol of the birth of a new egalitarian era. They still cannot digest the idea of human equality without caste, creed and race.
It was this fear that all the Opposition parties expressed during the campaign of the 2024 Parliament elections.
The added issue along with danger to the Constitution was protection to OBC/SC/ST reservation.
If the modern nation-state is ruled with the ideal of Sri Rama, that is the day the OBCs, SCs and STs will need to give up the right to live as equal citizens. They will have the ancient status of Shambhukas, Ekalavyas and Shurpanakas as Shudras, Vanavasis and Chandalas, respectively, as in Sri Rama times.
The real direction
The Shudras, Dalits and Adiavsis working in the RSS/BJP and outside must realise what Bhagwat says is the real direction of all the organisations working under RSS’ guidance. The BJP is one among them.
Within 15 years of RSS/BJP rule — 1999-2004 and 2014-2025 — they are shifting the ideological realms into various modes, both in discourses within India and in the Western countries.
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Now, we need not believe what Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah or any other BJP leader says about the Constitution and Ambedkar and democracy. Bhagwat is the ultimate authority. He has told the nation and the world what the future of India will be.
The Indian socio-political system has almost gone into the hands of the RSS central leadership, where no Shudra, Dalit or Adivasi would be trusted as a real representative of the idea of Rama Rajya.
Gandhi’s Rama Rajya
Although Mahatma Gandhi also used the concept of Rama Rajya, that was certainly different as we can see some explanation for it in Hind Swaraj.
He tried to address human untouchability in modern Rama Rajya. However, he wanted the Varna Vyavastha to continue with a re-interpretation around the karma-based mutation of human beings. Ambedkar disagreed even with the Gandhian model of Rama Rajya.
The RSS idea of Rama Rajya is completely subsumed into the Manu Dharma Shastra’s caste system.
The idea of RSS Rama Rajya is not explained in properly written text but it has done a lot of propaganda around for the last 40 years. This propaganda is much deeper than what the Gandhian movement did.
However, what Bhagwat said by linking the Ram temple consecration to Independence indicates the tone for the future adoption of the RSS kind of Rama Rajya, where Brahmin-Ksatriya rule has a massive support base of Bania monopoly capital. Over the past10 years, this nexus has been fully established.
It is a terrifying plan, indeed.(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the article are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)
