Temple takeover by secular government is like handing over management of religious temples in the hands of atheists ! – TR Ramesh, Temple Worshippers Society
‘According to the verdict of the Supreme Court in the petition filed by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, if mismanagement is observed in the management of a temple, the Government cannot take over and administer the temple but it can take over the temple till the problems are resolved. However, the secular Governments are taking over the temples and managing their administration. The Government uses lakhs of acres of temple land, earns crores of rupees by paying a paltry sum of Rs. 2 per acre to the temple. If the temples are paid the rent as per the market rates, it would come to 1 Billion Dollars (More than Rs. 7,500 crore). The temples will be able to manage their institutes, goshalas and Vedpathshalas with such a huge amount. Administration of the temples by secular Government is like handing over the management of religious temples in the hands of atheists, said Mr. TR Ramesh, President, Temple Worshippers Society, Tamil Nadu.
He was speaking in a special webinar organised by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti on the topic ‘Why is secular Government controlling Hindu temples ?’ Head priest of Chilkur Balaji Temple in Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad) CS Rangarajan ji, President of ‘People for Dharma’ from Kerala Mrs. Shilpa Nayar, Senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Adv. Kiran Bettadapur and the National Spokesperson of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Mr. Ramesh Shinde participated in the webinar. This programme was witnessed on YouTube and Facebook Live by more than 52,000 viewers and reached more than 1,80,000 people.
CS Rangarajan ji said on the occasion, “Due to appointment of the Government officers in the temples, the devotion and bhav (Spiritual emotion) is on the decline. To teach the path of devotion, the temples need to be secure. The temples are being taken over by the Government with an eye on the donation boxes; the Government would not be interested in take-over if these donation boxes are removed from the temples.”
Senior Adv. Kiran Bettadapur, who is fighting legal battles against Government take-over of the temples said, “Vidhan Soudha (The Assembly building) in Bengaluru is erected on the land measuring 60 acres and belonging to ‘Prabhu Arali Muneshwara Temple’. The Government usurped the land and erected Vidhan Soudha there. In Karnataka, 35,000 temples have been taken over by the Government. The temple money is being misused.”
Mrs. Shipa Nayar said, “Secular Communist Government in Kerala is interfering in religious rights of Hindus. Because of the negligence of the secular Government, lakhs of acres of temple land have been usurped. The anti-social elements have encroached 55,000 acres under Kochi Temple Devaswom Board, 13,500 acres of Guruvayur Devaswom Board, 75,000 acres of Koodalmanikyam Temple and 2 lakh acres of Malabar Temple Devaswom Board. To stop this, management of temples should be handed over to devotees.”
Mr. Ramesh Shinde said, “The basic objective of the temples is to propagate Dharma. If the Bible is being taught in the Church, Quran in the mosque, they why is Shrimad Bhagawadgeeta not being taught in the temples ? To propagate Dharma from temples, a nation-wide campaign ‘Temple and protection of culture Movement’ is being started”. On this occasion, a website in the Malayalam language of Sanatan Sanstha ‘Sanatan.org’ was inaugurated at the hands of CS Rangarajan ji.
