Wednesday marked a historic turn of events as regards the Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi movement even as PM Modi announced the creation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. This marks the culmination of the movement for the construction of a grand Ram Temple at his birthplace in the ancient city of Ayodhya.
Interestingly, 92-year old Advocate K Parasaran has been named as the first trustee of this Trust. He will host the registered office of the trust at his National Capital. This is only appropriate given his unmatched contribution towards making the construction of a grand Ram Temple a reality, ending the centuries-long wait of the Lord Ram devotees.
K Parasaran, a veteran lawyer, served as the lead counsel for the Hindu side and was certainly one of the few who put genuine efforts into bringing this centuries-old dispute to a constructive logical conclusion.
Parasaran was born to a religious Hindu family in Tamil Nadu’s Srirangam in the year 1927. He started practising before the Supreme Court in 1958. Parasaran’s father was a lawyer too and a Vedic scholar. Parasaran, himself a Vedic Hindu scholar, got appointed at critical positions by governments across party lines. During his career, K Parasaran has held important constitutional offices like the office of the Attorney General of India from 1983 to 1989. He had earlier served as the Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu in 1976.
K Parasaran was also awarded the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in 2003 and 2011 respectively. Later he was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Indian President in 2012 for a period of six years.
Parasaran’s courtroom arguments are often captivating, given the sheer skill with which he puts his knowledge of Hindu scriptures and legal acumen to good use, so much so that even the sitting Supreme Court Judge and former Madras High Court Chief Justice, Sanjay Kishan Kaul once described him as the “Pitamah of Indian Bar for his contribution to the law without compromising with his dharma”.
The highlight of his career, however, remains the Ram Janambhoomi dispute when it comes to crores of Lord Ram devotees. During the hearing of the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi case in the Apex court, K Parasaran had certainly put forth the views and demands of the Hindu side in a diligent and considerate way.
Even in the case of the Sabrimala Temple last year, K Parasaran led the fight as one of the faces representing the viewpoint of the Hindu community. K. Parasaran had remained dedicated to his solemn beliefs and since 2016 his appearances became rare but he still appeared in the Ram Janambhoomi case and the Sabarimala case.
What aptly describes his commitment to the cause that he stood for is his response to the Counsel representing the Muslim side during the Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi dispute hearing before the apex court.
“My last wish before I die, is to finish this case.” was the response by K Parasaran, when Rajiv Dhavan, the lawyer representing the Sunni Waqf Board had objected to daily hearings of the case.
As fate would have it, Parasaran has not only been able to witness the logical conclusion of judicial proceedings in the Ram Janambhoomi dispute, but he has also been appointed as the trustee in the Trust that is going to manage the construction of the all-important Ram Temple.
Modi government couldn’t have chosen a better person than Parasaran to be appointed as the trustee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. With this, Parasaran’s faith along with the faith and belief of crores of Indians stands vindicated, as Ram Lalla’s most ardent Advocate gets to look over the process of the elusive reality of a grand Ram Temple coming true.
