Many Hindu organizations, led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) made demand of ‘Equal Rights for Hindus’ in a one day conference. The National Conference on Equal Rights for Hindus was inaugurated by VHP’s National Working President Alok Kumar and sought amendment to Articles 28, 29 and 30 of the Constitution, to end the ‘special treatment’ to minorities.
The complete video of the event is available online and can be watched here.
The organizers asked for amendment in Articles 12, 15, 19, 25 to 30 and insertion of new article 12A, to protect the rights of the majority and conserve its literary texts.
As Article 30 of the constitution, minority community (religious and linguistic) has right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. This had led to proliferation of Madrasas and Christian educational institutions, but the same right is not conferred upon the majority.
It is well known that many Christian organizations that run education and medical trusts, being a minority institutions do not pay taxes despite making a lot of money. These institutions keep reserved seats for people from their communities, and even top colleges such as St Stephens College and Delhi University carry out this practice. Similarly, there are Madrasas and universities run by Muslims, and in their case, the government even provides funds to these institutions.
On the other hand, Hindu temples are facing an assault from “secular” state governments all across the country. These governments, under various Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE), Acts, control Hindu temples and religious institutions taking advantage of the fact that the Constitution does not protect the rights of the Hindu community as it does in the case of the minorities.
In addition to that, “Article 28 prohibits the majority community from propagating the knowledge of its ancient civilisation, culture and traditions to the future generations,” said Dr Venu Gopalan, a Sanskrit scholar from Chennai.
Many Hindu temples have been under government control and many Hindus want this control to end. Government has its own reason to control the temples. In various cases, the Government has used temple money in various government schemes and projects. Also, it is not a hidden fact that temple grants to Hindu schools have been diverted to Christian schools. Under the state governments, temples stand in miserable conditions. Christian Missionaries are the largest owners of land in India, yet our secular governments always forget to put their wealth in the nation’s use.
Moreover, politicians use the wealth of Hindu Temples to fund welfare policies. In an interview with the Republic TV, A.V. Ramana Dikshitulu, ex-head Priest of the Tirupati temple has accused former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and TTD for plundering the temple’s resources. According to the ex- head priest, Chandrababu Naidu and the men appointed by his government in TTD had unleashed a reign of corruption on the Tirupati temple resources.
In April, Supreme Court of India questioned the government authorities’ taking over of financial and administrative control of Hindu temples, The Supreme court said that the task of managing the affairs of the temples should be left over to the devotees as the court also cited continually degrading management situation of temples under control of various state governments.
Great conference on Equal Rights for Hindus, possibly historic (viz. if Parliament implements its recommendations). Proof that its contents were good is that hate papers like ToI conceal them, esp. the word "equal". They rather invest in the lie that India is a secular state. https://t.co/oLIHvxYQKs
— Koenraad Elst (@Koenraad_Elst) September 22, 2019
Hindu religious sites have long been a victim of exploitation by political forces, from the invasion by radical Islamists to current day ‘secular’ governments. Different state governments have enforced laws through which they have assumed both financial and administrative control of Hindu religious sites. What started as a tool to suppress Indians and keep them under imperial rule by the British, these laws still exist and continue to exploit and degrade Hindu religious shrines. The Hindu Charter team seeks to end this discrimination and asked for Equal rights for Hindus through amendments to the constitution.