India’s Unique Secularism Permits the State to Selectively Control Hindu Temples

temples secular state

The National Green Tribunal, as has become the norm, has once again decided to interfere with Hindu customs. It has issued a diktat that caps the number of devotees allowed to visit Vaishno Devi at 50000 per day. To say that the priorities of the institutions of the Secular State is misguided would be a gross understatement of the matter at hand. The concerted efforts to curtail the celebration of the Hindu religion are far too numerous to be considered merely coincidental, I think it’s safe for us to conclude that there’s genuine malice behind their actions.

Hindus at large are slowly but surely waking up to the imminent threat that the great Hindu Religion is facing due to the arbitrary mandates of the institutions of the Secular States. The selective targeting of Hindu festivals have sparked a genuine resentment among the Hindu community and serious issues, such as the RTE, which were the object of discussion and debate in the fringe section of the Hindu Right have entered the mainstream narrative. While it’s the truth that attack on festivals generate much more passionate debate across the fence, it’s good to notice that the elephants in the room, the RTE and the government control over Hindu Temples, is finally being addressed.

A secular state has no right to control religious institutions. But the twisted concept of Indian Secularism permits the state to selectively control Hindu Temples while allowing Mosques, Madrassas and Churches a completely free hand.

As a consequence, there’s a rampant illegal encroachment of Temple Lands, hundreds and thousands of acres of Temple Lands are sold off by the government for its own petty benefit and there’s widespread embezzlement of Temple Funds to boost. Why should the finances of Hindu Temples be diverted towards non-Hindu causes? Is it too much to ask that the donations made to Temples be spent towards the strengthening of the ethos of the Hindu Dharma and its propagation? Why should the donations of Hindus be used to fulfill the pet fantasies of bureaucrats and politicians?

Another real concern is the faith of the individuals in the Temple Management Committees. In many cases, the individuals tasked with the management of Hindu Temples are themselves not Hindus, they’re often self proclaimed atheists, communists and sometimes non-Hindus. Hindu Temples must be managed by people who are devout Hindus themselves, could atheists and communists ever serve our Gods with the same devotion? And just how vile it is that these Temple Management Committees even have beef eaters in them who participate in beef festivals? It’s a gross violation and desecration of the faith of Hindus and all this is happening because the Secular State controls our Hindu Temples.

To restore Hinduism to its former glory, it is imperative that its institutions are strengthened. And the first step towards strengthening our institutions is by freeing our great Temples from the oppressive exploitative arms of the Secular State. At the moment, our Temples are being used to fund the destruction of our own civilization. For Hinduism is to prosper again, our Temples must be freed. Our Temples must once again become the bullwark against the forces that seek to annihilate us and for that to happen, they must be restored to their former glory.

Over three years have passed since Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India and yet, no significant action has been taken to fix the core afflictions that our great Hindu civilization is suffering from. One hopes that Narendra Modi goes beyond simply visiting great Temples and takes some actual constructive steps towards their betterment.

PM Modi visits Kedarnath Temple
Image Courtesy: DNA India

Liberating our Temples from the vicious embrace of the Secular State will earn PM Modi more favour with the Gods than a thousand Temple Visits.

It’s been a bit of a disappointment really that even after three years of his election win, there’s still no indication of anything meaningful being achieved in this regard. However, what was whispered in the fringes has now become the talk across the board and one hopes that soon the voices of Hindus become a clamour and when it does, the Secular State won’t be able to hold on to our Temples much longer.

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