You could call it a new development in the Ayodhya donations story: a top man from the jewellers body has come out and said he has no idea where more than 40 kg of the silver he put forward has gone. It is putting some heat on the SIT and making people look closer at the way in-kind gifts were put through at the Ram temple.
What the jewellers official says he cannot trace
Anurag Rastogi, who heads up the India Bullion and Jewellers Association for north India, will tell you he doesn’t have any answers for two of the contributions he made. There is a 3 kg silver lamp he put in as an anonymous, personal gift. And then there is 39.26 kg of silver tied to the IBJA. According to Rastogi, the association put in 30 silver items for 34.64 kg. On top of that, four more bricks of 4.62 kg were turned over later, which makes 39.26 kg in all. He has the receipts for what the association gave, but as for where they are, he can’t say. The 3 kg lamp is a different story. His family put it in as a private, nameless donation back in March 2020 when the Ram Lalla idol was being put in a temporary spot. “We had the nod from Champat Rai,” Rastogi says. The Akhand Jyot was lit with Anil Mishra of the trust looking on.
Donations, rituals and receipts: a different timeline
Rastogi puts the start of the IBJA’s part in this after the building work on the temple was under way. His idea was to have every office-bearer put in 10 grams of silver – with their name, address and gotra on it – to be part of the foundation. Those 30 pieces, 34.64 kg of them, were made into bricks and marked with 99.99 per cent purity.
They were put to the side for some time at Ram Kacheri in Ayodhya, where the trust has its office, and worshipped for an hour or so. Rastogi says they were weighed right there and given to Anil Mishra and cashier Prakash Gupta with a letter. All 30 were in their hands by the end of the day. Then some of the others in Lucknow brought in four more silver bricks, 4.62 kg in total. Rastogi handed those to Prakash as well. He has the paperwork for the IBJA side of it, but not for the 3 kg lamp his family put in.
Other silver offered around the same period
The IBJA director put in a 1.65 kg silver kalash on his own. Over in Ghaziabad, president Raj Kishor Gupta and some of the local jewellers put together some 22.5 kg of silver, made it into one piece and left it at the trust with a receipt to show for it. Donors were of the mind that the IBJA’s share would be put in place at the Bhoomipujan on August 5, 2020. When it didn’t, they figured it had to do with protocol and the prime minister being there. At the time, no one was in any doubt as to the trust’s intentions.
Why the status matters now
All of this is coming in the wake of claims that some of the temple’s money has been siphoned off, which is what led to the current inquiry. The UP government formed an SIT on June 13 at the behest of the trust. Not long before, on the 7th, Akhilesh Yadav was pointing to reports of crores of rupees unaccounted for and calling for a judge to get involved. It has become a bit of a tussle between the BJP and the opposition. So when a well-known donor like Rastogi says he can’t put his finger on where a good deal of silver has wound up, it gives some substance to the talk about how assets and records are being kept. For the trust, it is not just a numbers game. These are in-kind donations – silver, lamps, the like – and they are physical emblems of faith. Being able to track them down is a matter of reputation with some political weight to it across the state.
Rastogi’s position on the trust and the probe
Rastogi is quick to say he has no issue with the Ram temple trust and is not making any kind of charge against Champat Rai. “The silver may be in a bank or put away for safekeeping,” he says. “I can’t say if it was sold or melted.” If the SIT wants to see the files, he is prepared to oblige. He draws a line between the 3 kg lamp and what was done as a group. The former, being a personal and anonymous thing, is of less concern to him. He made a point of it: his priority is to see the association’s side of the story, and what they put forward has been put in order and turned over.
What the chief minister has put on the record
Yogi Adityanath has been calling for some restraint with public pronouncements that might ruffle the feathers of devotees. His message was to let the SIT have the evidence if you have it, and he made no bones about the fact that no one is above being held to account. The SIT was formed because the trust wanted it, and the CM has put his word on it that the full truth will come out. It is an olive branch to the faithful: let the due process run its course, not the political posturing. You can tell by the way the chief minister has put it that this will be about the paperwork. With money and fine metal in the mix, the inquiry is going to hinge on verifiable handovers and a solid paper trail.
More than just a devotional offering
Rastogi doesn’t dispute that the silver made it to the trust. He says it was all weighed and for the most part, receipted. What has people wondering is where those hallowed objects are now and what has been done with them. In a project of this magnitude, how you are seen and how you are run are one and the same. Transparency is what keeps the trust from being an easy target. So the SIT is as much about standing up for your credibility as it is about following the rules. Then there is the matter of procedure. You have items marked 99.99 per cent pure, meant for the foundation. If they didn’t get put in place on August 5, 2020 for security or some other reason, the donors are entitled to a straight answer on when and how they were used. Here is a rundown of where things stand: – The trust is the one who called for the SIT – The CM has given his word on the outcome – Donor records are to be given to the SIT – Rastogi vouches for the trust
Following the silver
Back in March 2020, Anurag Rastogi’s family put in an anonymous 3 kg silver lamp. He said it was with the nod of Champat Rai and the Akhand Jyot was lit with Anil Mishra of the trust looking on. Once the building work was in full swing, the IBJA put together 30 pieces, 34.64 kg in all, with names and gotra on them, and had them made into 99.99 per cent pure bricks. After some rites at Ram Kacheri, the silver was in the hands of Anil Mishra and then cashier Prakash Gupta, with a letter to go with it. Later on, four more bricks, 4.62 kg, went to Prakash. Rastogi has the receipts for the IBJA stuff. On top of that, an IBJA director chipped in with a 1.65 kg kalash and some Ghaziabad jewellers under Raj Kishor Gupta came through with a 22.5 kg piece. But at the Bhoomipujan on August 5, none of the IBJA’s silver was put down. Rastogi says the donors put it down to protocol and let it be. It was off their minds until now.
What to expect from the SIT
“Give us the records and we’ll have them,” is Rastogi’s line. That means the receipts and the details from Ram Kacheri. The only one he doesn’t have is for the 3 kg lamp his family gave. This is an administrative probe, to be sure, but it will have a political ring to it after the June 7 allegations. A good accounting of in-kind donations would put an end to the opposition’s talking points.
For the donors’ side of it
Rastogi is making a case for what any donor would want: some certainty. When you hand over something of size and sanctity, you want to know it was put to use as you intended. He has the documentation for the IBJA, but where is it today? He has no hard feelings toward the trust. It is a simple question of logistics: where is the lamp and the 39.26 kg of silver? It is worth knowing because these weren’t just funds in a bank. They were specific, inscribed for a reason. To put the controversy to rest is also to show the trust is in good hands. As the SIT gets to work, we will be looking for two things. One, a published inventory you can put your finger on. And two, whether the donors are told, one by one, what has been done with their contributions since last August.
