Reclaiming Hindu Temples From Govt Control

Did you know that:

1. Hindu Temples have to give Income Tax on all donations received; finances are controlled by the government;
   However, the same is NOT true for minority institutions which are 100% exempt from paying Income Tax
2. The government, by law, if free to interfere in management of educational institutions run by Hindu religious bodies
   The government is, however, NOT free to interfere in management of educational institutions run by minority religious bodies.
3. Practitioners of Hinduism in their temples (you and me) do not have a a say by law in the management of the temple;
   However, practitioners of minority faiths retain the freedom to determine the management of their places of worship

Here’s a video produced by Swarajya Magazine on the topic:

To learn more about this discrimination against the Hindus, see this visual table comparing the rights of Hindu temples versus minority places of worship.

Legal definition of Hindu includes Jain and Buddhists Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples

And finally here is an excellent presentation put together by Temple Worshippers’ Society based in Chennai that highlights all the negative consequences of Government control of Hindu temples.

Source: http://indiafacts.org/government-control-hindu-temples-presentation/

Here are some shocking outcomes of such discriminatory laws against Hindus and their temples (ironically in their own country of birth; such is the power of minority appeasement politics):

> Collections from temples in Karnataka have been regularly routed to development of Madrassas & Churches and for offering Haj subsidies.

Source: http://www.indicstudies.us/Hinduism/Karnataka%20Revenues.htm

> In 997 Karnataka government passed an act by which temple officers, archakas, & even appointment of temple servants/priests landed in govt control. Including salaries of all them.

Source: http://guruprasad.net/posts/really-happens-money-temple-hundi/

> Govt has control of over 400,000 temples in Karnataka and over 250,000 temples in Andhra which are under govt control. Several thousands are dying or being shut down because of paucity of funds. Tamil Nadu is among the worst hit by such discriminatory laws prevailing since British times — which instead of being trashed under an independent Indian government, have become even more oppressive.

> Some Hindu sampradayas such as the Ramakrishna Math & Mission have even tried to claim “minority” status and obtain protection from government interference.
(Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples)

> In the 1980s, the then Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran ordered the Guruvayur Temple to deposit Rs 10 crore with the state treasury to offset a government deficit. Whether this money was ever returned or not is uncertain. In addition, the temple’s land holdings were decimated from 13000 acres to 230 acres by the Land Reforms Act which conveniently excluded non-Hindu institutions.
(Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples)

> The Maharashtra government admitted to the Bombay High Court in 2004 that US$190,000 from Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple were being diverted to a charity run by a politician, Minister for Welfare, Rehabilitation and Textiles, Vilasrao Patil Undalkar.
(Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples)

> In 2010, the Orissa government sold 500 acres belonging to the Jagannath Puri temple at a throw away price of Rs. 1 lakh per acre to the Vedanta Resources mining conglomerate before finally being stopped by the Supreme Court of India.
(Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples)

> In Tamil Nadu, the HR & CE Department controls over 4.7 lakh acres of agricultural land, 2.6 crore square feet of buildings and 29 crore square feet of urban land of temples. By any reasonable measure, the income from these properties should be in thousand of crores of rupees. The government, however, collects a mere Rs.36 crore in rent against a ‘demand’ of mere Rs. 304 crore — around 12 per cent realization.
(Source: http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples)

Here is a collection of articles you can read on this issue.

1. http://swarajyamag.com/culture/swarajya-for-hindu-temples
2. http://pseudosecularism.blogspot.in/2003/10/revenues-from-temples-diverted-for-haj.html
3. http://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/r-n-bhaskar-policy-watch-liberate-temples-from-government-control/756036
4. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/constitutional-validity-of-the-hindu-religious-and-charitable-endowment-act-1687-1.html
5. http://indiafacts.org/freeing-hindu-temples-from-government-control-a-start-is-made/
6. https://www.facebook.com/Free-Hindu-Temples-From-Indian-Government-Control-1785445318408814/
7. http://indiafacts.org/manage-hindu-temples-along-the-lines-of-sikh-gurdwaras/

The roles of temples in ancient India

Here’s an insight into the role of temples in ancient India. They acted as banks for merchant guilds who were trading across the Indian Ocean from SE Asia to Middle East. Islamic invasions which attacked temples for both their wealth/gold as well as for religious bigotry, broke down this entire network literally breaking the backbone of Indian merchants’ trading ventures in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

Join this fight to free Hindu temples from government control. Here are things you can do:

1. Spread awareness among Hindus on this issue
2. Write to @PMOIndia and to @narendramodi on Twitter urging him to free temples
3. Sign this petition (request Swarajya to start a petition; or else SrijanFn can)