Temples are being demolished all over India. Please read the story. It's very
sad. Please protest and write to every CM.
From Prof R. Singh
Please circulate widely, and if possible, forward it with your comments to BJP
Leaders and other concerned citizens
Thanks ; KB
============================
Open Letter to BJP President and BJP's CM of Karnataka
Demolition of 5000 Temples by BJP Government in Karnataka
Subject: (A) Stop destruction of temples under pretext of SC verdict; (B)
Restore religious freedom by de-nationalizing temples and handing over their
management to Hindu boards.
Aadarniya Shri Nadkari ji, President, BJP,
Hon'ble CM Yeddyurappa of Karnataka; and
Respected Hindu Nationalists and Activists
The Hindus and proponents of religious freedom throughout the world
have been shocked and dismayed by the fact that the BJP run Karnataka Govt.
without asking for a review or filing an appeal to challenge the questionable
verdict of the Indian SC has decided to go forward and demolish some 5,000
temples in the state by 31st December 2010. (Attachment A) As the caretaker and
custodian of these temples the Govt. was supposed to maintain and promote their
interests; instead it has shamelessly chosen to become the instrument of their
liquidation. These temples are alleged to have been built on public lands and
the authorities without bothering to ascertain the opinion of the concerned
electorate has not even cared to present a reasonable plan for their relocation.
One hundred temples have already been destroyed.
On the other hand not even a single mosque or church has been touched
by the Govt. though hundreds of them stand on public lands. Additionally the
Govt. has been diverting Temple's funds and lands under its control for other
than Hindu- religious purposes. With the current culture of growing financial
and political corruption as evidenced by the 2G spectrum and Common Wealth games
(CWG) scams and non- transparency in the governance of the Hindu Institutions
under Endowments dept. there is a deep apprehension of their exploitation, abuse
& misuse. Accordingly it would be highly desirable if the temples under the axe
are allowed to function in lieu of the ones made dysfunctional or demolished and
whose lands have been misused or misappropriated under unconstitutional official
decrees. When officials divert huge sums of money for unconstitutional largesse
- Hajj subsidies, building Hajj houses and Imams salaries at tax payer's expense
why can't they allow the threatened temples function where they are or move them
to alternate sites at Govt. expense?
1) It appears that there is a deliberate official effort to demolish
Hindu religious infrastructure. It must be noted that The Karnataka state in the
recent past has been squeezing the life out of Temples by siphoning off their
revenue to promote adversarial religions– Inthe year 2002-2003, out of Rs 79
crores of temple revenues, Rs. 59.15 crores was given away to mosques, Madrasas,
Hajj, etc., Rs. 12.75 crores was given to Christian institutions and a mere Rs.
7.1 crores were allocated to maintain over 248,000 temples. Such discrimination
against Hindus and religious patronage for Muslims and Christians is highly
questionable, illegal and provocative to a billion Hindus worldwide. During the
five years of the report from 1997 to 2002 some 19,000 temples closed in
Karnataka.
Shocking Reverse Discrimination:How discriminatory and constitutionally unsound
it is that on the one hand the Indian Govt. subsidizes the "Hajj" pilgrimage of
the Muslims to the tune of Rs. 800 crores annually, provides Rs. 1000 crores per
year for Imams salaries, and reservations in jobs and educational institutions
are made on the basis of religious minority status, but on the other hand the
Karnataka authorities are crusading to destroy the self- supporting foundations
and structures of Hindu places of worship by financial strangulation and
diverting funds to adversarial religions, thus effectively demolishing the Hindu
religious infrastructure.
2) The Karnataka High Court upheld the obvious Constitutional mandate
by striking down the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable
Endowment Act, 1997 terming it unconstitutional.The verdict concluded that the
legislation violated Articles 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution which provided
for right to equality, freedom of conscience and freedom of profession, practice
and propagation of religion and also the freedom to manage the religious
affairs. It is understood that the Committee appointed by the Govt. and headed
by the former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Shri Rama
Jois, to review the Endowment legislation, has submitted its
recommendations. But the Govt. has neglected to implement the High Court
verdict and even kept the recommendation of the Rama Jois committee secret, to
keep temples under its control (Ref 1, 2).
3) Further, Vital Functions of temples are denied under Govt.
control:The temples are not just for rituals by purohits and objects of tourism
as the endowments department would have us believe, but also the centers of
community's socio-cultural and religious life, a place of learning with Acharya,
for community sewa, dharma prachar and for character building. The exposition of
the grandeur of Hinduism - its Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, the
Bhagwad Geeta - its glorious ancient culture, spirituality and values that the
community would like to project and propagate - are not only being denied by
state control, but the deliberate and irreversible Govt. actions in liquidating
resources of endowments meant for sustenance in perpetuity could stop these for
good.
Professedly 'Secular' Karnataka penalizes Hinduism and patronizes Christianity
at a great cost to the exchequer:By imposing Govt. control the state authorities
are virtually demolishing Hindu religious infrastructure and thereby Hinduism
itself. Yet they go out of the way to encourage evangelization - a case in point
is Govt. providing facilities to Priest Benny Hinn, with an avowed aim of mass
conversions, at the State government's Jakkur Airfield Training Ground on
January 21-23, 2005 (Ref 1).
4) It is a matter of national shame that even after 60 years of
independence, Hindus are denied human right to religious freedom:The Hindu world
is baffled and indignant as to why it is denied the right to govern temples
under autonomous Hindu Boards under the guidance of religious leaders, a
practice prevalent and allowed to other religious formations. Indeed it may be
the time for Nationalists to follow Lord Krishna's message in the Geeta for
launching the "dharma raksha" and "dharma samsthapana" campaigns.
5) Hon'ble BJP President, CM of Karnataka and Respected Hindu
Nationalists and Activists:May we request you to approach the Supreme Court for
staying its order till the issue is examined afresh. It is more than possible
that some of the temples may have been built before the partition of India, in
which case the Parliament's Act that the status of religious places will remain
the same as on August 15, 1947 (or similar language to that effect) will be
applicable and thus would be protected. Any lack of concern towards the
resolution of such emotionally religious and sensitive issues by the BJP
leadership which aspires to rule India can hardly earn the party an enthusiastic
and sustainable support of the Hindu masses. The continuation of policies that
shackle, humiliate and debilitate Hinduism under the BJP rule should be
unthinkable unless it has embraced Rahul Gandhi's anti-Hindu perverted
philosophy. It should also be noted that some minority religionists, with
foreign instigation, inspiration and funds are building mosques and churches by
the thousands.
We must also remind the BJP that denationalization of temples was one
of the important points in its Agenda in 2009 elections, which seems to have
been forgotten and not implemented in BJP ruled states, leading to the
impression that its promises cannot be taken seriously. BJP's talk of Hindutva
and building of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya would remain unconvincing if
non-contentious issues like protection and de-nationalization of temples are not
taken seriously. Such a rational, legal and justifiable policy will obviously
have influence upon many other states that have also illegally taken control of
temples and are literally robbing the offerings and assets donated by the
believers. Such a proactive action could lead to a favorable view of the BJP in
future elections. In view of these objectives and above all the objective of
"equal justice for all" we hope you will give top priority to the issue of
stopping the Karnataka Govt. for committing an unpardonable blunder by employing
official domain for destroying these 5,000 temples thereby shaking for good the
very foundations of Hinduism in the state.
Thanks for your time and consideration and hoping for a speedy action
& response.
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
December 19, 2010
References:1) Karnataka: Congrats CM Yeddyurappa: Please Liberate Hindu temples
.....(June 11, 2008), www.bharatjagran.com
2) Karnataka - Hon'ble CM: Set up Hindu Advisory Councils for Temple Management
..... (July 02, 2007), www.bharatjagran.com
=======================
Attachment A
BJP Government in Karnataka to demolish 5000 temples !
100 temples demolished till now
December 15, 2010
Margashirsha Shukla Navami, KAliyug Varrsha 5112
Are the pro-Hindu organizations going to say something in protest or going to
keep mum as usual ?
Bangalore (Karnataka): Karnataka Government will be demolishing 5000 so-called
unauthorized places of worship as a measure to implement the order issued by the
Supreme Court. The temples to be demolished are 5000 including 1213 temples, 55
mosques, 17 churches and 4 Gurudwaras from Bangalore District. In South Canara
District, there are 640 temples, 151 mosques, 32 churches and 10 Gurudwaras
proposed to be demolished whereas in Bangalore city, there are 442 temples, 38
mosques and 95 churches and in Ramnagar District, there are 3 temples proposed
to be demolished.
In September 2009, the Supreme Court had issued an order to prepare a list of
worship places built at public places which are to be demolished by 31st
December 2010. The Government has demolished more than 100 temples till now.
(The Supreme Court has so far passed many verdicts in the interest of the nation
and people; but none of the verdicts has been so promptly implemented; an
example of the same is death sentence given to Mohammad Afzal. Some of the
verdicts passed by the Supreme Court like in Shahabano case, was changed so as
not to hurt minorities; then why the Government is showing such promptness in
demolishing temples? It is only because Hindus are not united that the
Government suppresses their sentiments ! – Editor SP)
Source: Daily Sanatan Prabhat
http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/10921.html
Read all such news here
http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/category/save-temples/karnataka-temple-demolition
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