Of gods and governance

Mon, Jul 7 02:14 AM

The violent protests over the land transfer to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) and then its cancellation present an example of how religion, politics and the law don't make for a particularly happy ménage-a-trois. The issue of government control over temples - or shrines, as the case may be - has always been problematic:

• The Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Amarnath Shrine Board, by virtue of legislation, are outside the purview of the Executive as they are managed by the Governor, who is the ex-officio head of the two bodies. Similarly, the Wakf Board in the state is headed by the Chief Minister. This decision has been questioned for being based on the consideration that in the Muslim-majority state, all governors have been Hindus whereas chief ministers have been Muslims. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, whose government incidentally separated the Amarnath shrine board and put it under the Governor, has now said it's high time to put an end to this practice and bring all religious boards under the purview of the Legislature. Following the recent controversy, new Governor N N Vohra has handed over the logistics of running the Amarnath Yatra to the state Government.

• In early March 2008, after years of struggle, the Chilkur Balaji Temple in Hyderabad was finally granted autonomy from the Government by the High Court. Earlier, the Temple Protection Movement had vociferously opposed the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Department's attempt to take over the temple, claiming that it would commercialise the site of worship by installing hundis for donations, introducing paid tickets and 'special' darshans by invoking the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, which bestows several powers on state governments, including auditing temple funds, appointing priests, monitoring temple affairs through a committee and managing funds. Similar protests have also been registered in other states, where Endowment Boards have been accused of misappropriating temple assets and turning religious sites into sources of quick revenue, in the form of donations from devotees. Some see the soon-to-be-patented laddu at Tirumala's Lord Venkateswara temple, which is dispensed to devotees via a conveyor belt, as an example. The funds collected from devotees, accuse many, are then siphoned off and rarely invested back into the temples. The Tirumala temple along with several others is governed by the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD), which, though an independent trust, is chaired by a nominee from the state Government and also has an IAS officer acting as its executive officer.

In February 2008, during its All-India Conference of Hindu Acharyas in Karnataka, the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha (HDAS), an apex body of religious leaders which seeks to act as a "collective voice" for Hindus, issued a declaration demanding that Hindu temples be freed of the "stranglehold" of the Government in all matters related to temple control, regulation and governance.

• In 2006, the attempts by the Andhra Pradesh Government to usurp temple lands to house homeless people - a project known as Indiramma Pathakam or 'land for the landless poor' - led to widespread protests in the state as well as protracted court proceedings initiated by Hindu groups, who viewed the situation as especially sinister since Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy happens to be an Evangelical Christian. The matter was finally resolved in February this year, when the high court ruled in favour of the Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samiti, with Chief Justice Anil Dave refusing to vacate the stay - obtained back in 2006 - on the state takeover of temple lands. In Kerala, there was an uproar when M A Baby, a CPI(M) leader born into a Christian family, was appointed as the Government's nominee to the Guruvayoor Temple Committee to control and manage the religious affairs of the Sri Krishna temple. He was eventually forced to resign.

• Hindu groups have long objected to "godless" Communists meddling in the affairs of Devaswom boards in Kerala. The members of statutory bodies like the Travancore and Cochin Dewaswoms are nominated by the Government, and the contention is that most of these ministers are practising atheists and don't have the necessary reverence for Hindu religion.

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