Thread by @PankajSaxena84

1. Was Bajrang Dal wrong in preventing the #Brahmastra crew?

Many wise folks have made it clear that it is in the rights of the temple authorities to allow or not allow certain folks from entering the temple premises. This thread is about where Bajrang Dal comes into it.

2. To add a salient point about temples: most temple Agamas recommend a charya, a lifestyle, a routine, which has to be followed not just by the temple archakas, but also the temple visitors or temple devotees. Those who are sure not to follow it, can’t be allowed inside.

3. This is because the temple is not a museum. It houses a certain deity who, just like an individual, has certain characteristics. These characteristics won’t ‘appear’, and temple won’t be alive, until all the rituals and charyas associated with that form of deity are followed.

4. As the deity has some characteristics, just like an individual, he also has rights and has the complete adhikara to allow or prevent individuals from entering the premises. This fact is lost only upon those who think of deities as simple ‘idols of stone’ and nothing more.

5. Since Ranbeer Kapoor is a known beef eater, and Alia Bhatt is a member of RoP, they have no right to enter the temple at all. But some folks are miffed over, ‘but what about Ayan?’ ‘How can we be sure Ayan eats beef?’

6. We cannot be, and that is precisely why they were all prevented. Protests are about what the crowds do to prevent the unthinkable, which is to let a beef eater reach Nandi and Śiva. They did what they had to and if someone was collateral damage it was okay.

7. We all know this temple visiting spree is to sell tickets and nothing more and the entire crew of the movie is completely deracinated. In that case, just crying over ‘we can’t be sure about Ayan’ is a non-starter. That logic should allow many Christians too to enter.

8. Whether Bajrang Dal had authority or not is a different issue. They functioned outside the temple, in society, to prevent what they thought was wrong with very very very active support of all of Hindu population.

9. I know the region and many of the residents outside the temple personally. They are all with Bajrang Dal in this. And are willing to go against political parties to prevent beef eaters from entering the temple. Bajrang Dal is representing a public wish.

10. When you put out blanket bans to prevent the unthinkable from happening there are always some who fall on the wrong side of the divide, but it is the only way you can enact a rule otherwise anything goes. Any bickering over BD is just a refusal to see the real problem.

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