Taking Away Hindus' Rights
To Their Own Temples
Dhananjay Mathur
Taking Away Hindus' Rights To Their Own Temples
On October 15, 1999, a historical court decision which portends
ominous implications for the days ahead was handed own as a true
miscarriage of justice in Kerala. As an allegory imagine if Satan
worshippers were given full control and power to appoint
administrators of the Catholic Church. That in essence is the
ridiculous import of the Kerala High court's latest decision.
It all started when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Kerala
Shethra Samrakshana Samiti [Kerala Temple Protection Council],
filed a petition seeking that irreligious Hindu politicians and
ministers be banned from temple administration. This is quite a
logical plea considering that earlier this year the Communist
government which is composed of vehement anti Hindu members
amended the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institution Act. The
Act used to require every minister or MLA who could elect members
to the temple's administration boards, to sign a declaration which
clearly showed that they believe in god and temple worship . This
requirement makes a lot of sense when we consider the fact that
the State Government doesn't have even an iota of say in the
administration of Churches and Mosques. It is quite logical and
justifiable therefore that Hindus were angered at being forced to
turn over their temples' administration to politicians who are
downright hostile to Hinduism and demean it at every opportunity.
There is no doubt that this malicious decision to remove that
particular requirement from the Act was done purposely by the
Communist Government in a blatant attempt to take away the Hindus'
rights to even administer their own temples! It also ensured that
the ruling government filled up vacancies in rich temple bodies
with its own men so that the funds contributed by Hindu devotees
would be subverted and be poured into the Communist Government's
coffers. Those diverted funds then would obviously be used to
create even more hostile propaganda against Hindus!
VHP and KSSS leaders were therefore forced to approach the court
for religious justice as some of the biggest places of worship
like the Guruvayur and Sabarimala temples have been systematically
mismanaged and misused by atheist politicians from Communist
parties. VHP general secretary R Ravindran had made the press
statement to Rediff magazine that "It is an insult to
Hinduism that temples are managed by ministers and politicians who
hate god and temple worship. No politician has any right to
indulge in religious and temple matters of the Hindu
believers"
The plea asked the court to ensure that only those Hindu ministers
and MLAs who believed in god and temple worship are given the
power to nominate members to temple managing boards. This sounds
like an eminently reasonable and rational request. For example
drawing a parallel with Islamic institutions in India today would
be unthinkable. If the Kerala State Government has the right to
appoint administrators for Temples, why can it not do the same
with Mosques, Churches or Synagogues? Why are Hindus being made
the ultimate scapegoats here?
The Communist government's argument was that since freedom of
thought was the hallmark of Hindu religion, Hindus also have the
right not to believe in god and temple worship. That could not be
a reason for denying the Hindu ministers the right to choose or
nominate members to the administrative bodies religious
institutions. This ridiculous claim is tantamount to saying that
even Communists are Hindus! By definition Communism does not
believe in religion therefore how could politicians from a
Communist government be treated as Hindus!! The idea is obviously
to obfuscate the definition of Hinduism and make it look so vague
as to justify that it incorporates anything. The government
counsel Ashok Desai also contended that the duties of managing
committee members were purely administrative in character and did
not touch upon the traditional religious duties of temples.
This is another ridiculous argument, as it is the administrative
management of the temple which has control of resources and
finances. If the control of the money is in the hands of the
Communist politicians then what can stop them from dictating the
parameters of religious rituals or confining them altogether?
The five-member high court bench led by Justice A R Lakshmanan was
obviously not interested in meting out justice for after having
perused the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Act, it dismissed
the VHP-KSSS petition stating that the Hindu ministers and MLAs
need not be practitioners of Hindu faith!
The shocking verdict of the bench stated that "The freedom of
religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution was not an
uncontrolled freedom," This statement by itself reveals the
politically motivated and biased attitude of the Bench! For going
by the Court's own definition of "uncontrolled religious
freedom", it would seem that the Muslims and Christians of
India are entitled to it, but NOT the Hindus. The same rules
should then apply to Mosque and Church administration as well. Why
should Hindus be the only ones made to relinquish their rights to
control their religious institutions.
In a truly ironic statement the Court stated that "The
religious freedom which has been safe-guarded by the Act is
religious freedom in the background of a secular state. Courts
have held that the administration of a religion institution is not
a matter of religion. The state can control and regulate the
administration of the secular affairs of a temple by suitable
measures." Note that the reference is clearly made in the
context of TEMPLES and not just religious institutions of any
type.
A disappointed KSSS president M P Gopalakirshnan Nair, in his
press statement to Rediff magazine, lamented the fact that the
verdict would enable many Marxist ministers and politicians to
freely interfere and influence the running of temple management
boards. "The court order also neglects the rules of temples
boards. For instance, the Guruvayur Devaswom Act states that only
persons who have faith in god and professes Hindu religion are
qualified to manage its affairs. Therefore the judgment is fraught
with danger for the believers of Hinduism as a bunch of hardcore
atheist communists have begun occupying temples boards." The
VHP too is "saddened" by the judgment that gives a free
hand to the government to interfere in temples and their
properties across the state. "We are planning to move the
Supreme Court," VHP spokesperson Ravindran added.
The implications of this decision are truly immense, for it
clearly infers that Hindus can their rights to administer their
temples snatched away from under their very noses! In the name of
secularism, the majority community of India is being subjected to
extreme injustice and inequity. It is imperative that Hindus all
over India recognize the importance of this decision and
wholeheartedly express their outrage. If by chance the Supreme
Court upholds this incredibly unjust decision then the first blow
to their identity will have been made.
The Kerala High Court's decision is by no means a small matter it
is the symbol of the growing trend of deliberate emasculation and
diminishing of the rights of Hindus to practice their religion
without interference. It is imperative that steps are taken to
block this type of utter discrimination because it is obvious that
the same standard is NOT being applied to all religions equally in
the interests of India's so called "secularism"
If Hindus do not rise to the occasion and defend themselves selves
against such incidents of blatant injustice aimed at weakening
them, the fate of India, a nation which has since time immemorial
been synonymous as the upholder of Vedic Dharma, will be in grave
danger.
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