An eye opener for Hindu population
In 2009, even as the governing body of Tirumala Tirupati was facing
questions over 300 missing gold coins, a priest was arrested after confessing
to stealing a deity's two gold necklaces weighing more than a kilo. Governing body
officials “said the priest was only a small fry and that
there was a larger scam happening at the Lord Balaji temple - which is in
possession of jewellery worth more than Rs 45,000 crore”. No inventory of the temple assets, controlled by
the government, has been done since 2005. An inquiry in July 2008 by the
Vigilance Department of TTD resulted in the suspension of several officials but
the findings were never made public.
In 2010, the state
government of Orissa apparently sold several hundreds of acres of land belonging to Jagannath Puri temple to Vedanta
Foundation at throw-away prices. The matter is now under investigation.
In 2003, the Telugu Desam
government in Andhra Pradesh “offered ayurvedic giant
Dabur as much as 120 acre of land for a monthly lease of Rs 5,833”. The land belonged to Kodanda Rame Swamy temple in
Chittoor.
In Tamil Nadu, an audit in 2007 of the ancient Parthasarathi Temple in
Chennai, managed by the government, revealed that records of seventeen temple
grounds (~41000 Sq Ft) in T Nagar were missing; In addition 11 other grounds
had incomplete records and lacked clear titles. The audit also found properties
that were let out to non-existing tenants & those that were sold apparently
on an ad-hoc basis.
In 2006, A probe conducted
by the Justice Tipnis committee on disbursal of surplus funds by Siddhivinayak Temple noted in its
report, “the most shocking aspect..is that there is no method or
principle followed for particular institutions. The only criteria for selection
was recommendation or reference by trustees or the minister or a political
heavy-weight, generally belonging to
ruling party"
In 2006, Acharya Kishore Kunal, the Religious Trust
Administrator in Bihar mentioned that “government control
over the temples..has resulted in loss of temple properties worth Rs. 2000
crore”. He went on to point out “the
alienation of property” that had taken
place via “sale, lease and forcible occupation by persons with
criminal antecedents” and how “several
temples, mutts and trusts…(had) slipped into the hands of criminals
masquerading as priests and swamis."
In Kerala,
anecdotal evidence suggests that the extent of donations from the Bhaktas at
Sabarimala expropriated by the government is such that without them, the
government treasury will not be able to break even.
This is the story of some of India's richest temples. This is about the
little known fact that they are all controlled by the government. This is a
story of "secular” loot. These sacred places of worship and living symbols
of our heritage, culture & civilisation that managed to survive centuries
of invasions and plunder are today prey to a rapacious government’s systematic
loot.
By virtue of control over the Trust Board, the government also controls
the surplus funds generated by these temples. Bear in mind that these are some
of the richest temples anywhere in the world, not just in India. What happens
to these surplus funds? The reality is no one quite knows.
All we know is that they are rarely - if ever - diverted back to
improving the temple, the facilities, the salaries of priests or for Hindu
religious pursuits. For the most part, they are transferred arbitrarily
by the government for “secular”, non-Hindu purposes. The most damaging
side-effect of this is lack of resources for maintenance and upkeep of temples,
leading to irreparable
damage to many medieval and ancient structures.
In what may be the most appalling
instance of such wilful neglect, disbursements to temples in
Karnataka for renovation and maintenance between the period ’97-’98 to ’02-’03
fell (more than halved) from Rs 16.5 crores to Rs 7.1 crores even as revenues
collected from temples rose from Rs 58.63 crores to Rs 79 crores!
Interestingly, over the same period, disbursement to Madarsas, Mosques and Haj
committee rose more than 4 times from Rs 14.25 crores to Rs 58 crores and
disbursement to Christian institutions and churches more than doubled from Rs 5
crores to Rs 12.75 crores.
To the best of my knowledge, such intervention in temple affairs, their
management and finances rarely extends to mosques or churches. And where such
interference is feared, protest is swift.
But here is the most cruel twist to this sordid state of affairs. While
the government shamelessly continues this “loot” of Hindu temples & sacred
spaces, political parties, with an eye on votes, compete with each other to
provide sops to Imams & Mosques. Thus, we had RJD & Trinamool Congress
in 2010 demanding the implementation of a Supreme Court order to provide salaries to
Imams of “government-aided mosques”.
Yes, you read that right.
In this wonderful “secular” country of ours, where the government
arrogantly takes over the “right” to manage some of the richest Hindu temples,
we actually have “government-aided mosques”, complete with Imams whose salaries
are supposed to be paid by the Government.
In 2012, the government of Paschim Banga went one step further. It
announced that Imams will be
“give a monthly honorarium of Rs. 2,500” and “homeless, landless
Imams” will be given land to build homes, with the government footing the bill
for “construction expenditure” too.
Sadly, most Hindus remain blissfully unaware of all this and of course,
no “liberal” will raise their voice on this matter. Should a concerned Hindu
mention this in polite conversations, you can safely assume he or she will
instantly be branded as “communal”.
Fortunately things are changing. In Nov ’12, the Hindu Dharma Acharya
Sabha (the apex body of Hindu religious leaders) decided to take up this
matter. Other activists are gathering information and evidence to challenge
these laws in courts. But we have a long way to go – and we cannot afford to be
complacent. Why? Because we have not seen the end of this yet.
From a report dated
15th May ’12: “The Tamil Nadu government today proposed amendments to a 1959 act
governing temples seeking to bring 'samadhis' and 'brindavans' under its ambit
for effective control.” The reason? “(these) samadhis and brindavan..are being
worshipped as a place of public religious institution..and..own vast
property..(these) are not being controlled effectively”. Sigh.
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