VHP wants temples freed from government control

In the run-up to a meeting in Tirupati after the laddu prasadam controversy, the VHP’s international president Alok Kumar said the organisation had always been against boards formed by governments to manages temples

Following the Tirupati laddu prasadam controversy, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will be holding a meeting of its apex decision-making body in Tirupati on Monday (September 23, 2024) to press the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring in measures to “free Hindu temples” from government control, which has been a long-term goal of the organisation.

Speaking about the meeting, the VHP’s international general secretary Bajrang Bagra said that it would be attended by religious leaders of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the challenges faced by Hindu society and solutions thereof would be discussed.

“Apart from the ongoing issues related to Hindu society, the meeting will also see the discussion on the adulteration of animal fat in the prasadam of the most revered Tirupati Balaji temple, which is deeply troubling the entire Hindu society,” Mr. Bagra said.

The VHP will chalk out a plan on the role of religious leaders in the situation arising out of the Tirupati temple prasadam row.

The VHP’s international president Alok Kumar told The Hindu that the organisation had always been against boards “mostly headed by non-believers” formed by governments to manages temples.

“Ever since the British rule in India, Hindu temples have been under the administration of governments. But even the British had to repel the laws controlling temples in the form of the Religious Endowments Act, 1863, which came intro place after protests by Hindu leaders. The Act enabled the government to divest itself of the management of religious endowments, and also paved a way for the establishment of local committees to oversee the temples,” he said.

Mr. Kumar added that post Independence, several States brought back the “draconian” laws to continue the control over temples, starting with Tamil Nadu (then Madras). Currently, States that have legislation for the management of Hindu temples include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Maharashtra. Even Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have Acts that allow them to control temples.

“The [then] Madras government was the first in Independent India that sought 3% of the total receipts of temple money; now it’s 12%. This was followed by others as temples became a milch cow for them. But my question is — how can any government be called a secular government if it has control over the religious institutions of one religion and not others? In no State in India are mosques or churches are governed by government,” Mr. Kumar said.

He added that the VHP believed temple management committees should have the whole spectrum of Hindu society as members, including a woman and a person from a Schedule Caste or Schedule Tribe, if the region had one.

“We believe that there should be transparent accounting of money received and money spent by the temple, and the money earned by it should be spent only on Hindu causes,” the VHP leader said.

Published - September 22, 2024 08:35 pm IST