Temple takeover by the Government : Narrating experiences

Index

(Note : This script will be presented as a lecture in the Convention)

Temples are the foundation stones of Hindu Dharma. They play an extraordinary role in protection, preservation and nurturing of Hindu culture. Every Hindu narrates all his tribulations to God, empties his heart and due to firm faith that God Himself will relieve him of his tribulations, his hopes of a peaceful life are sustained. Thus, because of temples Hindus not only get psychological support, but temples also bestow them with benefit of Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) from the spiritual perspective. Millions of Hindus are attracted towards temples or pilgrim centres only because of this Chaitanya, despite there being no visible reasons.

In times of natural calamities, Hindus have support only of temples and religious organisations. Under such circumstances, the Government’s efforts to takeover temples and religious institutions are like snatching the psychological, spiritual and emergency support of the Hindus. This is no less an attack on the Hindu culture. Realising the atrociousness underlying this cunning move of the Government, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) commenced a struggle against the ‘Temple and Religious Institution Takeover Act’ in various States. I am now going to present to you some experiences we have had in this struggle.

Harm caused to Dharma by the Temple takeover by the Government and the nature of agitation against the Government’s move :

1 A. Exposing the large scale misappropriation of funds (donations made by devotees) by the politicians : The famous temple of Shri Siddhivinayak at Prabhadevi in Mumbai is currently under the control of the Maharashtra Government. One Mr. Kewal Semlani had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Mumbai High Court. As per his appeal, the Mumbai High Court appointed a Commission headed by former Justice Tipnis for a judicial enquiry. This enquiry has revealed that politicians of all political parties have plundered crores of Rupees from the temple funds. Politicians have donated crores of Rupees to their own organisations and thus misused the money donated in faith by devotees. The Government is thus making a mockery of the wealth belonging to Hindu temples.

1 B. The large scale mass awakening created by HJS has kept a check on the reckless management by the Board of Trustees : Despite the Court’s interim stay on 23.3.2004 on the distribution of funds, the temple trustees distributed crores of Rupees in 22 cases in this period.  In this case, HJS was in touch with Mr. Semalani, the petitioner, and could get regular information. HJS distributed pamphlets on the basis of this information and created an awakening amongst the devotees. It also held protests every Tuesday (On this day, maximum number of devotees visit this temple) outside the temple for a full year. This resulted in widespread awakening among the devotees. In this way, HJS could successfully keep a check on reckless management of te Government appointed Board of Trustees.
1 C. Conspiracy to give tourism status to the temples !

1 C 1.  Organising an international conference in a seven-star hotel by spending millions of Rupees from temple funds : The Siddhivinayak Temple Trust organised an international conference on the subject of ‘How can temples be given tourism status’ on 28th and 29th January 2006 at ITC Grand Central Sheraton, a seven-star hotel in Mumbai. For this conference, the Government appointed Board of Trustees spent Rupees 24,38,734. Half of this amount was spent on food, stay and travel.

The conference was attended by 25 temple representatives from Bharat, and the rest were from Kathmandu (Nepal). A conspiracy to misappropriate the wealth of the temples, which are the foundation of Hindu Dharma, after their takeover by the Government was in the offing in this conference.

1 C 2. Mass awakening by HJS through strong protests and protest letters : Strong protests were launched by HJS volunteers just outside the hotel and protest letters were given to the representatives of Maharashtra Government, Shri Siddhivinayak Temple Trust, the attending Central Tourism Minister Mrs. Renuka Chaudhary and all other temple trustees who had come for the conference; the following demands were made in it.
A. Avoid immoral spending of the money belonging to God by organising temple conferences in seven-star hotels. The temples should continue to remain Hindu places of worship and not become tourist centres.
B. Propagation of Hindu Dharma should be taken up through Dharmashikshan (Education on Dharma).
C. Temple money should be used for the welfare of Dharma, and not for entertainment. Help should be provided to small and/or derelict temples.
D. Temples should be represented only by those who have firm faith in Hindu Dharma, Hindu scriptures and Deities.

1 D. Upon collecting information under RTI Act, it was revealed that the money of Hindu temples was being used for the welfare of minorities and not for Hindus : Shri Siddhivinayak Ganapati Trust provides financial help to social organisations (in the form of donations) and needy people for medical treatment. When information was collected on this issue under RTI Act, it was revealed that :
A. Many Muslims had been given financial help for medical treatment by the temple trust.
B. Individual medical help ranged from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000, and social organisations were given donations up to Rs. 1.5 crores.
C. A Christian school at Shiroda in Sindhudurg District had been given a donation of Rupees 10 lakhs. However, Hindu schools did not receive such huge donations.

2 A. The temple committee of Pandharpur sold cattle donated by devotees to butchers ! :  The Vitthal-Rakhumai Temple at Pandharpur is under the control of Maharashtra Government. The Gaushala there receives cows in donation from many devotees. It was noticed that the temple administration had sold cattle to butchers to evade the expenditure on the cows and to get income from their sale.

2 B. HJS’s swift action upon learning of the sale of cattle to butchers
1. A memorandum was submitted to the Maharashtra Government on 29.6.2010 in protest against the mismanagement and for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.
2. A complaint was lodged in the local Police station.
3. Through a press release, this subject was given wide publicity.
4. The issue was also raised in the Maharashtra Assembly session and a demand was made to scrap the temple committee and initiate action against those guilty of this act.

No action has been initiated by the Government in this case so far.  However, the case is being keenly followed by HJS and public awakening is also going on.

3 A. Ruling politicians used temple funds for Government schemes in their own constituencies : The third temple that is under the control of Maharashtra Government is Saibaba Temple at Shirdi near Nashik. It is the second richest temple in India. The ruling politicians utilise the funds of this temple for Government schemes in their own constituencies and in the process siphon crores of Rupees. The same ‘Sai Sansthan’ had lavishly spent Rupees 93 lakhs for the first tour of President Mrs. Pratibha Patil, that lasted a few hours.

3 B. HJS’ strong protests against the incorrect decision of the State Cabinet :  On 1.6.2011, the Maharashtra State Cabinet decided that the funds of Shirdi Sansthan be utilised for Government Boards and Government companies. HJS protested strongly against this decision and warned the Government through a memorandum.

4 A. The decision to donate 2% of the income to Charity Commissioner was challenged and revoked by the Court : When the office of the Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra State, was established it was agreed that the expenditure incurred by it should be borne by registered religious centres and organisations. Accordingly, the Government issued an order that all registered trusts should contribute 2% of their income towards the maintenance of the Charity Commissioner’s Office. Later, it was realised that since these funds kept accumulating, it was possible to bear expenditure of this office through the interest generated from these funds. The Government was not willing to look into the matter. Therefore, Seth Wadilal Dahera Sirji Trust, Sanatan Sanstha and some devout lawyers challenged this in the High Court. The Court then ordered that the Government order on the trusts contributing 2% of their income be withdrawn. This can be termed the biggest success of Hindu organisations as regards temple related campaigns.

4 B. The proposed ‘Temple Takeover Act’ of Maharashtra Government withheld through establishment of ‘Mandir Mahasangh’ ! : In 2006, the Maharashtra Government plotted to take control of four and a half lakh temples and religious organisations through the 15th Law Commission. However, it faced stiff resistance from HJS and temple and religious organizations, and the Government had to revoke the proposal. Again on 17.5.2010, Law Minister of Maharashtra declared that the Government would take over 2 lakh temples as their funds were not being utilised properly.

To vehemently protest this move of the Government, ‘Mandir and Dharmik Sanstha Mahasangh’ was established at New Mumbai on 14.11.2010. All devout Hindus, trustees and office-bearers of temple committees etc. joined the Mandir Mahasangh, transcending the barriers of posts, parties, sect, castes etc. The registration process of Mandir Mahasangh is going on. It is because of the united efforts of the Mandir Mahasangh that Maharashtra Government withheld the proposed ‘Temple Takeover Act’.

5 A. Karnataka

5 A 1. ‘Temple Takeover Act’ passed by the anti-Hindu Congress Government and the subsidies given through it : The Congress Government in Karnataka passed the ‘Temple Takeover Bill’ in 1997. However, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Parsi communities were exempted from the ambit of the Act and 2,64,000 Hindu temples were taken over by the Government. According to the Revenue department figures, this number reduced to 2,51,000 in 2002. Thus 13,000 temples went missing from the list. Of Rupees 391 crores earned from all these temples, 180 crores were given to Muslim Madarasas and for Haj pilgrimage, while Churches were given 44 lakhs as subsidy. Only Rupees 84 crores were given for management of temples. As a consequence, 50,000 temples had to be closed down for want of funds.

The temple trustees jointly fought the Government’s move and the Karnataka High Court revoked the Act itself in 2006.

5 A 2. Creating awareness against Government’s decision : HJS launched protests against the Karnataka Government’s decision to take over all the Hindu temples under ‘Religious Institute and Charitable Endowment Act’ at the State, District and Taluka level in the period 2008-2011. Thousands of pamphlets were distributed during the protests. Such protests were carried out in 17 Districts. As a result, many people understood the harmful effects of this Act.

5 A 3. Creating awareness about the mismanagement of temple funds by the Government and establishing ‘Devasthan and Dharmik Mahasangh’ : Under the RTI Act, information was collected on how the temple funds were utilised by the Government till 2003. Many religious heads and temple trustees joined this agitation based on the information collected under RTI. ‘Devasthan and Dharmik Mahasangh’ was also established in the same period. Over 100 organisations registered themselves with the Mahasangh. When information was collected on the wealth of other major temples, it was found that major part of the funds had been used for Government schemes. This information was circulated and awareness was created.

5 A 4. Judicial battle : In Bengaluru, Prasanna Mahalakshmi Temple is under Government control. This was also strongly opposed and a judicial battle was launched. The Court ordered that till the final verdict, the Government should not claim any rights over the temple property.

5 B. Andhra Pradesh

5 B 1. Government takeover of Tirupati Tirumala Temple : The Christian CM of Andhra Pradesh Mr. Y. Samuel Reddy (at that time) tried to encroach upon temple land.
1. A plot was hatched to trim down the temple land and build a Church there.
2. The contract for preparing ‘Prasad’ distributed from the temple was given to a Christian company ‘J.B. Mathews and Co.’
3. Ornaments worth Rupees 50 thousand crores were stolen.

Constant awareness is being created in the society and care is taken so that such acts are not repeated.

6 A. Maharashtra Government is waiting to take over temples citing the reason of increased incident of temple thefts, and HJS is ready to fight this conspiracy with all its might :  Over 1350 incidents of temple thefts have taken place in Maharashtra in the past 4 years and wealth worth Rs. 2 crores has been stolen. During these thefts, desecration of Idols and Idol-breaking have also taken place.  Of these 1350, only 394 incidents have been solved so far and only 14% of the wealth has been recovered by the Police. The Government of Maharashtra is bent on taking over the temples citing the reasons of thefts. HJS is going to oppose this conspiracy with all its might.

The Home Minister of Maharashtra told the media on 2.5.2012 that ‘In case of thefts in any temple inMaharashtra, the Government will  immediately write a letter to the Charity Commissioner and request for dissolution of the temple trust committee. Later, an administrator will be appointed there and the temple will be taken over’. Thus, in case of a theft in a temple, the particular temple trust will be dissolved and it will be brought under Government control.

6 A 1. Steps taken against Government’s Temple takeover move :
A. Create an awakening among the temples and religious organisations on this threat, and inspire them to oppose the Government
B. Establish ‘Mandir and Dharmik Sanstha Mahasangh’
C. Make use of RTI and place before the society facts about misappropriation of property of the temples taken over by the Government
D. Help other organisations active against the Government’s Temple takeover move.

Besides the agitation against temple takeover by the Government, HJS had launched a massive campaign against incidents of Idol breaking and thefts in temples of Goa. I feel I must tell you about it in brief.

7 A. Goa Government declares over 350 temples and ‘ghumati (Small roadside temple)’ unauthorised and the protests by Hindus : As per instructions from the Supreme Court, the Goa Government had declared over 350 temples and ‘ghumatis’ unauthorised. This included over 450-year-old temples of Shri Damodar at Phatarpa, Shri Mahadev at Sakorda and some other temples, that represent the spiritual heritage of Goa.

When Hindu organisations and temple trustees launched protests against this, the Government omitted the names of some temples and prepared a new list. The temples included in this new list will soon be demolished.

7 B. Not a single Idol-breaker has been arrested in the past 7 years : The anti-Hindus have so far destroyed over 50 Idols of Deities in over 35 temples since 2004 in Goa. Despite repeated occurrence of Idol-breaking incidents, the Goa Government has not arrested a single Idol-breaker so far.

7 C. No culprit has been arrested despite thefts in temples : Despite over 60 incidents of temple thefts in the past 11 months and over 250 such incidents in the past few years in Goa, not a single culprit has been arrested so far.

7 D. Shaking up the Government through various agitations : HJS launched agitations to draw the attention of the Government to these incidents, and also actively participated in protests launched by other Hindu organisations. Further, to keep this campaign alive, an organisation ‘Gomantak Mandir and Dharmik Sanstha Mahasangh’ has been established by uniting trustees of small and large temples.

Temples are the foundation of Hindus. HJS has launched its agitations with the perspective that ‘Hindu culture can survive and develop only if temples are protected’ and by God’s grace, it has been successful so far in its endeavour. I am sure that if all of us begin a nationwide agitation from this perspective, the problem of temple takeover by the Government will be eliminated forever and the temples will become sources of Chaitanya in the true sense. I pray unto the Holy feet of God that may He provide us with the strength to achieve this !

Read more about HJS Campaign of ‘SAVE TEMPLES’