Champat Rai, the former general secretary, and trustee Anil Mishra are no longer members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Treasurer Govind Dev Giri said on Tuesday, putting to rest any speculation regarding their status.
Giri said that Rai and Mishra ceased to be part of the Trust after their resignations were accepted at its meeting on Monday. He dismissed the assertions that they had only stepped down from their posts but continued as trustees.
He also confirmed that the Trust has decided to remove Gopal Nagarakatte, also known as Gopal Rao, from the list of specially invited members of the Trust following the resignations of Rai and Mishra.
“Rai and Mishra ceased to be part of the Trust after their resignations were accepted at the meeting on Monday,” Treasurer of the Trust, Govind Dev Giri, told news agency PTI.
“As of now, Krishna Mohan has been appointed as the interim General Secretary by the Trust, but the Trust may later decide to make this appointment permanent,” Giri told PTI.
The resignations were accepted during the Trust’s meeting on Monday. However, while confirming the resignations, Giri on Monday defended the former general secretary, saying he was “betrayed” by the people he trusted. Describing Rai as a person who devoted his life to the Ram temple’s cause, Giri said his only mistake was that he trusted the wrong people.
“The trustees did not commit any betrayal. Rather, it was Champat Rai who was betrayed. We consider him an extremely noble person. But he trusted the wrong people and kept them with him for many years. It was those people who betrayed the Trust,” he said.
Even while accepting Rai’s resignation, the Trust unanimously appreciated his contributions to the Ram Mandir movement and the construction of the temple in Ayodhya, he added.