Open Letter regarding Temple Demolition to BJP President and CM of Karnataka

To,
1. Aadarniya Shri Gadkari ji, President, BJP,
2. Hon’ble CM Yeddyurappa of Karnataka; and

Respected Hindu Nationalists and Activists

The Hindus and proponents of religious freedom throughout the world have been shocked and dismayed by the fact that the BJP run Karnataka Govt. without asking for a review or filing an appeal to challenge the questionable verdict of the Indian SC has decided to go forward and demolish some 5,000 temples in the state by 31st December 2010. (Attachment A)  As the caretaker and custodian of these temples the Govt. was supposed to maintain and promote their interests; instead it has shamelessly chosen to become the instrument of their liquidation. These temples are alleged to have been built on public lands and the authorities without bothering to ascertain the opinion of the concerned electorate has not even cared to present a reasonable plan for their relocation. One hundred temples have already been destroyed.
 
On the other hand not even a single mosque or church has been touched by the Govt. though hundreds of them stand on public lands. Additionally the Govt. has been diverting Temple’s funds and lands under its control for other than Hindu- religious purposes.  With the current culture of growing financial and political corruption as evidenced by the 2G spectrum and Common Wealth games (CWG) scams and non- transparency in the governance of the Hindu Institutions under Endowments dept. there is a deep apprehension of their exploitation, abuse & misuse. Accordingly it would be highly desirable if the temples under the axe are allowed to function in lieu of the ones made dysfunctional or demolished and whose lands have been misused or misappropriated under unconstitutional official decrees. When officials divert huge sums of money for unconstitutional largesse – Hajj subsidies, building Hajj houses and Imams salaries at tax payer’s expense why can’t they allow the threatened temples function where they are or move them to alternate sites at Govt. expense?
 
1) It appears that there is a deliberate official effort to demolish Hindu religious infrastructure. It must be noted that The Karnataka state in the recent past has been squeezing the life out of Temples by siphoning off their revenue to promote adversarial religions – In the year 2002-2003, out of Rs 79 crores of temple revenues, Rs. 59.15 crores was given away to mosques, Madrasas, Hajj, etc., Rs. 12.75 crores was given to Christian institutions and a mere Rs.  7.1 crores were allocated to maintain over 248,000 temples. Such discrimination against Hindus and religious patronage for Muslims and Christians is highly questionable, illegal and provocative to a billion Hindus worldwide. During the five years of the report from 1997 to 2002 some 19,000 temples closed in Karnataka.
 
Shocking Reverse Discrimination: How discriminatory and constitutionally unsound it is that on the one hand the Indian Govt. subsidizes the "Hajj" pilgrimage of the Muslims to the tune of Rs. 800 crores annually, provides Rs. 1000 crores per year for Imams salaries, and reservations in jobs and educational institutions are made on the basis of religious minority status, but on the other hand the Karnataka authorities are crusading to destroy the self- supporting foundations and structures of Hindu places of worship by financial strangulation and diverting funds to adversarial religions, thus effectively demolishing the Hindu religious infrastructure.
 

2) The Karnataka High Court upheld the obvious Constitutional mandate by striking down the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1997 terming it unconstitutional. The verdict concluded that the legislation violated Articles 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution which provided for right to equality, freedom of conscience and freedom of profession, practice and propagation of religion and also the freedom to manage the religious affairs. It is understood that the Committee appointed by the Govt. and headed by the former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Shri Rama Jois, to review the Endowment legislation, has submitted its recommendations.  But the Govt. has neglected to implement the High Court verdict and even kept the recommendation of the Rama Jois committee secret, to keep temples under its control (Ref 1, 2).

3) Further, Vital Functions of temples are denied under Govt. control: The temples are not just for rituals by purohits and objects of tourism as the endowments department would have us believe, but also the centers of community's socio-cultural and religious life, a place of learning with Acharya, for community sewa, dharma prachar and for character building. The exposition of the grandeur of Hinduism – its Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana,  Mahabharata, the Bhagwad Geeta – its glorious ancient culture, spirituality and values that the community would like to project and propagate – are not only being denied by state control, but the deliberate and irreversible Govt. actions in liquidating resources of endowments meant for sustenance in perpetuity could stop these for good. 

Professedly 'Secular' Karnataka penalizes Hinduism and patronizes Christianity at a great cost to the exchequer: By imposing Govt. control the state authorities are virtually demolishing Hindu religious infrastructure and thereby Hinduism itself. Yet they go out of the way to encourage evangelization – a case in point is Govt. providing facilities to Priest Benny Hinn, with an avowed aim of mass conversions, at the State government's Jakkur Airfield Training Ground on January 21-23, 2005 (Ref 1).

4) It is a matter of national shame that even after 60 years of independence, Hindus are denied human right to religious freedom: The Hindu world is baffled and indignant as to why it is denied the right to govern temples under autonomous Hindu Boards under the guidance of religious leaders, a practice prevalent and allowed  to other religious formations.  Indeed it may be the time for Nationalists to follow Lord Krishna's message in the Geeta for launching the "dharma raksha" and "dharma samsthapana" campaigns.
 
5) Hon’ble BJP President, CM of Karnataka and Respected Hindu Nationalists and Activists: May we request you to approach the Supreme Court for staying its order till the issue is examined afresh. It is more than possible that some of the temples may have been built before the partition of India, in which case the Parliament’s Act that the status of religious places will remain the same as on August 15, 1947 (or similar language to that effect) will be applicable and thus would be protected. Any lack of concern towards the resolution of such emotionally religious and sensitive issues by the BJP leadership which aspires to rule India can hardly earn the party an enthusiastic and sustainable support of the Hindu masses. The continuation of policies that shackle, humiliate and debilitate Hinduism under the BJP rule should be unthinkable unless it has embraced Rahul Gandhi’s anti-Hindu perverted philosophy. It should also be noted that some minority religionists, with foreign instigation, inspiration and funds are building mosques and churches by the thousands.
 
 We must also remind the BJP that denationalization of temples was one of the important points in its Agenda in 2009 elections, which seems to have been forgotten and not implemented in BJP ruled states, leading to the impression that its promises cannot be taken seriously. BJP’s talk of Hindutva and building of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya would remain unconvincing if non-contentious issues like protection and de-nationalization of temples are not taken seriously. Such a rational, legal and justifiable policy will obviously have influence upon many other states that have also illegally taken control of temples and are literally robbing the offerings and assets donated by the believers. Such a proactive action could lead to a favorable view of the BJP in future elections. In view of these objectives and above all the objective of “equal justice for all” we hope you will give top priority to the issue of stopping the Karnataka Govt. for committing an unpardonable blunder by employing official domain for destroying these 5,000 temples thereby shaking for good the very foundations of Hinduism in the state.
 
Thanks for your time and consideration and hoping for a speedy action & response.
 
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
December 19, 2010
 

References: 1) Karnataka: Congrats CM Yeddyurappa: Please Liberate Hindu temples …..(June 11, 2008), www.bharatjagran.com

2) Karnataka – Hon'ble CM : Set up Hindu Advisory Councils for Temple Management ….. (July 02, 2007), www.bharatjagran.com

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