Bodh Gaya, the Mecca for the Buddhists, after getting lost in the quagmire of controversy, political miscalculation and opportunist upper caste gameplans since "independence", is ultimately showing some hopes of recovery. The first ... development in the recent (notification) of Bhante Pragyasheel as Secretary of the Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee on 13 July, 1998. Bodh Bhikshus had been kept out for decades. With a Buddhist now as Secretary there is some hope.
The struggle goes back to 1881 when a non-resident Srilankan Dhrupad had convened the first international conference at Bodh Gaya to liberate the Mahabodhi Temple from the clutches of Aryan vaidiks. The battle went from the then Collector of Gaya to the Calcutta High Court and later to the Privy Council in London but every where the Buddhists lost.
Sasai agitation: After "independence", the Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee came into being under the Temple Management Act, 1949, which envisaged the election of eight members, including the secretary, comprising four Hindus and four Buddhists. The Mahant of Bodh Gaya was made its permanent member and the Dt. Magistrate of Gaya as chairman. Venerable Nagarjun Surai Sesai of Japan was the first to launch a powerful movement to liberate the temple. He demanded total ownership and carried the agitation from Bodh Gaya to Delhi. Meanwhile, the Buddhists got divided into two factions - indigenous and foreign - dampening the strength ...
In 1992, CM Laloo Yadav took the initiauve to remove the stumbling blocks but he was obstructed at every stage. He drafted a Bill to ensure that all the right members of the Temple Committee would be Indian Buddhists. But the power (structures) scuttled the Bill.
The Buddhists have not yet secured full control over the Committee. However, they received a shot in thearm with the inclusion of two stalwarts - Ven. Surai Sesai who is leading the Mahabodhi Mahavihar Liberation Movement and its general secretary Bhante Anand. (Source: The Dalit Voice, 16-30 September, 1998)