That’s the classic line from director Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s classic PleasureIn which Rajesh Khanna’s character says, ‘Babu Moshay, life should be big, not long., This was one of everyone’s favorite dialogues in the 1960s, and two kar sevaks from Kolkata – Ram Kothari and Sharad Kothari – were no exception.
“But, I never knew that they would live every word of it,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, who accompanied the brothers to Ayodhya. He was killed in a firing incident in 1990 in the temple town where the statue of Ram Lalla is located. Dignity of life Will happen on 22nd January.
Aggarwal said, only one day is left for the ceremony news18 This grand event shows that the selfless contribution of the Kothari brothers – who later became the face of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement – did not go in vain. Furthermore, Agarwal, who is a Ram devotee at heart and a childhood friend of the Kothari family, recalled the firing incident and called it a “sheer massacre” of Ram devotees and an attempt to crush them.
Aggarwal said that he and the Kothari family had two things in common. One was devotion to Ram and second was that they all belonged to Bada Bazaar area of Kolkata, where Marwari migrants from Rajasthan lived.
“Being born and brought up in a religious family, we were more inclined towards religion and national issues. We were also a part of the local RSS shakha, where we not only focused on keeping ourselves fit but also participated in discussions on other religious issues of the country. And the Ayodhya Ram temple movement was one,” Agarwal said.
trip to ayodhya
Aggarwal further said that things were generally fine until 1990, when the Ram temple movement reached its peak and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Shiv Sena and RSS started camping at the Ram Janmabhoomi site, demanding reconstruction of the temple. .
“At the same time, senior BJP leader LK Advani started.” Chariot Festival And other right-wing organizations called for reaching Ayodhya. However, in retaliation, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav had issued strict instructions saying that ‘not even a bird will be able to fly in Ayodhya.’ CM’s statement moved all of us and we all decided to head towards Ayodhya. This is how our journey began,” he said.
Taking the UP government’s statement as a challenge, Agarwal and the Kothari brothers along with 85 others from the local RSS shakha started the journey to Ayodhya. He said, “Packing a few pairs of clothes and some food in a tin can, we left for Ayodhya on 22 October 1990. We boarded a train to Mughalsarai (now renamed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction).”
But, on reaching Mughalsarai, the trio faced an awkward situation as all trains towards Ayodhya were canceled due to security reasons. He further added, “We somehow managed to board a private bus which took us to Lalganj and from there we were told that we would have to walk to Ayodhya, which was still 149 km away, as no other transport was available. was not.”
‘Walked for 149 days to reach Ayodhya’
After spending a night in Lalganj, the group left for Ayodhya on foot, Aggarwal said. “Before leaving for Ayodhya, we were told that we would have to leave our luggage behind and split into small groups to avoid security personnel. It took us about seven days to reach Ayodhya on foot,” he said.
He said that although he has known the Kothari brothers since childhood, the journey from Kolkata to Ayodhya showed him a different side of them. “I had never seen this side of Ram and Sharad. Despite all the obstacles, he was very enthusiastic, passionate, helpful, polite and humble at the same time. The time spent with him during the entire trip was the most memorable time of my life. After reaching Ayodhya, the three of us formed a group and started our way to Ram Janmabhoomi,” he said.
But then came a moment that made them realize that destiny had something else in store for Ram and Sharad, and they were there for a purpose. “When the three of us were going towards the Ram Janmabhoomi site, both of us stopped at a tailor shop. Out of curiosity, I went up to them and asked what they were doing. And to my surprise, they were requesting the tailor to quickly stitch a saffron dupatta for them and get the ‘kafan’ embroidered on it. That was the moment I realized they were here for a purpose,” Agarwal said.
On October 30, 1990, a large number of Kar Sevaks reached Ayodhya on the call of VHP, RSS and Shiv Sena. During the confrontation, UP Police opened fire on them.
When a peaceful gathering turned violent
The next day, a meeting was held where kar sevaks were informed about the plan for November 2, which was the day of Kartik Purnima. “We had to chant Name of God Ram And march towards the birthplace. If we had been stopped, we would have sat there and started singing Ram bhajans,” he said.
In retaliation, the police opened fire for the second time within 72 hours, in which many kar sevaks including Ram and Sharad Kothari died.
When on 22 January Dignity of life After the event in Ayodhya, Agarwal has planned a grand function in Kolkata to pay tribute to the Kothari brothers and celebrate Ram’s “homecoming”. It has been 33 years since this happened but this incident is still fresh in Agarwal’s memory. He has still not recovered from the horror of the 1990 shooting incident.
“In fact, Life should be big, not long And the sacrifice of the Kothari brothers has proved it,” he said.
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