Mark Twain said politics is the only profession where you lie, cheat and steal and still be respected. Though India was fortunately steered by moral giants in the formative years after Independence, politics today indisputably lacks ethical substance. Politicians who lie, cheat and steal do command respect and clout. Some of their deeds, falling in the category of moral turpitude, rarely trigger national outrage. Isn’t there much greater legitimacy for evil today? Does that indicate the moral fabric of common people is in tatters? Is it true that the majority of people have stopped judging politicians on the yardsticks of personal integrity and constitutional morality? The loot in Ram temple distressed almost every Indian but reactions coming from people send out muddled-up, confusing messages. Let’s leave aside the most outrageous response that has come from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), unnecessarily raising the anti-Hindu and anti-national bogey, instead of honestly dealing with the question of theft and financial fraud. Those who are inimical to RSS-BJP philosophy and politics are obviously feeling vindicated; they argue that moral or conscientious behaviour was never expected from this lot. Even those who are favourably inclined towards Sangh Parivar, or categorised as bhakts, have been deeply impacted. Most of them are shocked, confessing that the iron had pierced their soul. Even in this category, broadly three types of responses are heard, revealing how political loyalty overrides moral precept.The first category wants to brazen it out. Despite the speculation about the estimate of theft ranging between Rs 200 crore and Rs 2,000 crore, this section of people insist a minor issue was being blown out of proportion by political opponents who do not have any locus standi in the matter. Their argument goes something like this: “Those who opposed the demolition of Babri mosque and the Ram temple movement are kicking and screaming. They haven’t even visited the temple once. They have no right to question the theft. Leave it to us Hindus to deal with this internal matter.” This is a dangerous conception. These people are now defining who has the right to speak about crime. Violation of law will now be examined on the basis of political affiliation. The same set of citizens, who are being silenced on the issue of theft in Ram temple, are probably allowed to speak on theft in a bank, or mosque, or even temples not run by the Sangh Parivar. This is an assertion that Sangh Parivar is above law; the constitutional guarantees of equality and justice are not applicable to them. The crime becomes an “internal matter” which can be resolved without normal legal consequences. As if the misdeeds of Sangh Parivar cannot be treated on par with other crimes! Will this illogic be stretched one day to say ‘if a Hindu kills another Hindu, the police need not interfere’? If a Hindu boy rapes a Hindu woman, will the society handle it according to its own convenience?A similar incident elsewhere, not the Ram temple managed by the Prime Minister-constituted trust, would have been naturally handled differently. An FIR would have been registered to begin with, followed by arrests – of key personnel, not the low-level functionaries – and the accused would not have been given time to tamper with evidence. Raids obviously would have been conducted by the police, not the managers under whose supervision the loot happened. Recovery of the booty would have followed an FIR, not preceded it. Ideally, such a sensitive case that has the potential of triggering a national outrage would have entailed a completely fair investigation, probably under judicial monitoring, ruling out any shady cover-up operations.Second categoryThere are a large number of people who are shocked and distressed by the loot but refuse to believe the Modi Government or the RSS should share the blame. This category is satisfied with the crackdown on low-level functionaries, insisting that petty counting staff committed the mistake because of greed. They find the responses of both the Central and the state government commendable, arguing that no attempt was made to hide the unseemly development. Be it a shopkeeper who proudly flaunts his Modi-bhakti or an IT professional who camouflages his bhakti with Hindu supremacism and robust nationalism, this section is not in favour of hyping up this avoidable aberration.One young professional said, “How many scams happened during the Congress regime? Why should we jeopardize a good Modi government for one mistake? The theft could have been avoided but every staff member can’t be disciplined.” Asked if Narendra Modi, who formed the trust, and Mohan Bhagwat whose loyalists dominated the trust, should not share any blame, these people forcefully argued that “dragging the top bosses for the mistakes of the servants” is not desirable. When reminded that scandalous land deals involving top leaders like Champat Rai and Anil Mishra were in public knowledge for the last many years, and Modi or Bhagwat took no action, they say profiteering by some individuals in big projects is normal. Then they blurt out – Congress did this, Congress did that…These are the same people who defended Modi on note-bandi, Covid mismanagement, price rise, rising unemployment, crony capitalism, Chinese intrusion and timidity before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. When asked if Modi was right in inducting corrupt leaders from other parties into the BJP, or in promoting tainted and controversial bureaucrats, they say such things are normal in politics. If that’s the case, why are the Congress and other opposition parties judged for moral standards? The answer is clear – political loyalty sits above righteousness. Third categoryAn old woman in Dhanbad forced her sons to donate the pension amount lying in her account for the Ram temple. Her sons were surprised by her desperation, taunting her whether the construction of the temple would be delayed if her money didn’t reach the trust. Both sons well-settled, they obliged the mother by donating whatever she had for the temple construction. Years later, she has been traumatised by the reports of loot. She is calling down curses on the thieves who didn’t spare even the Lord Ram. This category involves apolitical Hindus, real saints, youths and a section of RSS-BJP sympathisers who mistook Hindutva for Hinduism. A diehard BJP fan in Ranchi, who participated in karsewa and saw the construction of Ram temple as fulfilment of his life’s purpose, is livid. He wants everybody involved in theft to be hanged to death while conceding that it would be foolish to believe that Modi and Bhagwat were unaware of the unethical practices. Videos of sadhus from Ayodhya describing the Ram temple as “RSS office” and condemning the entire management as “corrupt from top to bottom” have flooded the social media. Lawyers of Faizabad-Ayodhya have sought an FIR against three big RSS functionaries – Champat Rai, who is the general secretary of the trust overseeing the temple, Anil Mishra, who performed the key rituals during the consecration ceremony, and Gopal Rao, who played a key role in day-to-day temple functioning. Ironically, every individual involved in the temple management is from Sangh Parivar and the RSS is confusing the nation by raising anti-Hindu and anti-national bogey.But this section of people isn’t ready to believe Modi or Bhagwat didn’t know of the shady activities inside the temple. They acknowledge the Prime Minister constituted the trust picking loyalists and Sangh functionaries but no fool-proof arrangement was made to ensure clean and transparent administration. People of Ayodhya are saying the RSS and the Modi government treated the temple as their personal fiefdom and they will have to be held responsible for the loot. Allegations of plots being bought at inflated rates, commission in procurement and construction, and warnings about discrepancies in counting were ignored for years. Those who flagged theft over the years were sacked. The dominant sentiment in Ayodhya and elsewhere in the country is that minions are being made scapegoats while the real operators are protected. “Chhoti machhliyan pakdi ja rahi hain…,” countless videos carrying this lament are available on social media. “Trust is bhrast,” another slogan you hear on the streets.What’s not open to dispute is that the mastermind, or the real culprits, will never be caught. But that won’t bring closure to this sordid chapter in the history of Hindutva – NOT Hinduism – politics. Who is responsible for the theft is embedded in people’s minds, no matter what the outcome of investigations is. People’s faith has been shaken and bruised. There will be massive political fallout. Ayodhya was indeed BJP’s fountainhead of political energy. Ayodhya could well be BJP’s Waterloo.Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator.