The Hindus of Kerala are protesting against the apex court’s verdict on Sabarimala Temple allowing women of all ages to enter in the temple. The devotees of Bhagwan Ayyappa have been demanding the state government to file a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict but their demands are falling into deaf ears and the callous and atheist communist government of the state is adamant in its decision to not to file a review against the verdict.
The Communist government first unheeded the demands of Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees and then also added insult to their injuries. The Communist government of the state has amended the sub-section (2) of Section 29 of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act (1950). The section had made it mandatory that only Hindus could be appointed on the Travancore Devaswom Boards (TDB), but now the amendment done by the state government has paved the way for appointment of non-Hindus in Travancore Devaswom Boards.
Hindu Aikya Vedi has said that the words ‘who shall be appointed by the board shall be a Hindu,’ is nowhere in the gazette published on July 6, 2018. The state secretary RV Babu said, “A non-Hindu can be appointed as member of the Dewaswom board.”
Kerala Government Publishes Gazette allowing Non Hindus to be employed in Hindu Devaswom Board . We should get ready for another fight against Communist Government. Share and Shame Secular Government. #ReclaimTemples #Punarutthana pic.twitter.com/JWceAQ4RFT
— Girish Bharadwaj (@Girishvhp) October 7, 2018
Hindu temples are not properties of other religions. People of other religions have no right to run Hindu temples. The Kerala government, in order to project themselves as the flag bearer of secularism, is playing with the religious sentiments of the Hindus. This is part of a concerted effort of the state to take over Hindu temples. The Kerala government’s recent amendment is clear cut interference in the matters of Hindu religion. It is a violation of fundamental rights of Hindus to practice their religion according to their wish. The Kerala government has been trying their level best to bring the management of Hindu temples under their control. In Kerala, Devaswom Boards in the State which administer the temples ideally should have believers as their members but the communists have appointed their own leaders in the administration who are atheists. Travancore Devaswom Board chief A Padma Kumar is also a CPM leader.
In the name of secularism, successive governments have taken control of Hindu religious institutions. They control the religious rituals carried out in temples, decide who will be appointed as the chief Pujari of the temple, manage their finances and even tax the income of Hindu temples. According to a Pgurus report, “The Kerala Government has made it mandatory for the TDB to deposit a major chunk of the annual income of Sabarimala Temple in the Government account in the state treasury and nationalized banks. No question is asked about how the money is spent by the government though there are reports that the money is transferred to some of the church and mosque accounts.”
Only Hindu temples are subjected to interventions, places of worship of other religion such as churches and mosques are free from any government intervention.
Recently, Supreme Court thwarted Karnataka Government’s attempt to take over Gokarna Temple. The Supreme Court order on Gokarna Temple should serve as a benchmark for the future judgments of the courts and for the various state governments who want to control the temples and its properties.
For more details: Supreme Court directs Karnataka govt. to hand over the control of Gokarna Temple to the Math