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Letter to Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra
Subject: a) Participation
of community in governance is essential for transparency and guidance
at nationalized temples of Siddhi Vinayak , Shirdi Saibaba and Sri
Vitthal at Pandharpur; b) the proposed Bill to takeover temples violates
Constitution and suppresses Hindus human right of religious freedom
Hon'ble
Chief Minister Deshmukh,
More than a billion
Hindus worldwide are anguished that the '15th Law Commission' of your
state could not find a solution within the constitutional parameters for
management of temples, similar to the well accepted norms of governance
by community Boards, to up hold transparency and accountability. The new
bill a virtual draconian law, calling for the sweeping Govt. control of
Hindu places of worship exposes the Govt. hypocrisy thoroughly as it
leaves the mosques, durgahs, madarassas, and Churches outside its
tentacles, obviously for political considerations. (Attachment A). This
discriminatory law, through which some 4.5 lakh temples and Hindu
religious institutions will be brought under the control of the
Maharashtra State, violates the Constitutional mandate of separation of
state and religion and is extremely prejudicial to the Hindus human
right of religious freedom. These separate sets of laws are being
enforced in the face of the Govt. proclamation that it believes in
secularism and democracy.
1)
Govt.
meddling in temples and mismanagement:
The conclusions of the inquiry commission headed by Justice Vijay Tipnis
into allegations of mismanagement and misuse of funds in the famous
Siddhi Vinayak temple should serve as a strong warning against Govt.
meddling in temples on a large scale. Such interference could
permanently disrupt the Hindu religious infrastructure (Attachment B).
To
assure transparency and clean management of temples under Govt. control,
participation of the community in governance through a Hindu Advisory
Council, elected/ nominated by the community or religious organizations
like the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha is essential.
2)
The proposed Law will
ensure totalitarian control of temples by politicians and bureaucrats.
According to the proposed 'Maharashtra Temple and Religious Institutions
(Administration and Regulation) Bill 2006' (Temple Nationalization Law)
, government will assume power to determine how the trust money should
be spent : a) The trusts will be required to contribute 8% of its gross
income to run the Charity Commissioner's Office as against the current
requirement of 2%; b) Out of the three trustees mandated per trust, one
will be appointed by the government; c) all income would be placed in a
common fund; d) there would be no lifetime trustees and each trustee
would be liable (not just the trust); and, e) distributions of
donations will have to be approved by the charity commissioner.
3)
Flimsy and unsubstantiated charges of improper administration and
financial management,
and utilization of funds for improper planning are simply the Govt.
manufactured tools to assume control over all temples. The expansion of
Govt. control is being contemplated in spite of the fact that there is
no transparency and accountability in the Govt. management of Sri Siddhi
Vinayak temple, Shirdhi's Saibaba Devasthan, and the Sri Vitthal Temple
at Pandharpur that are already under the government authority? The
mismanagement of the Sri Siddhi Vinayak temple is convincingly uncovered
by Justice Vijay Tipnis's Commission (Attachment B). With such a track
record, the expansion of the official control upon the remaining temples
will only endanger and threaten the well being of the entire Hindu
religious infrastructure in Maharashtra.
Unlike the mosques, churches, gurdwaras, pagodas and monasteries the
Govt. apparently sees the temples as tourist industry and not as places
of worship and faith for crores of Hindus. The politicians and
bureaucrats exercising their control over the Trusts spend the money
that is offered by the devotees for religious purposes according to
their discretion, whims and fancies. They wasted Rs. 24 Lakhs of
devotee's money in a seven star hotel on a 2 day seminar- to promote
temples as places of tourist interest.
4) Another flimsy
reason cited for creating the Law is that thousands of cases concerning
Trusts are pending before the Charity Commission.
However, the trustees of the Temples and religious institutions cannot
alone be held responsible for the lack of progress. The slow moving
Govt. machinery and governmental indifference are the main causes for
accumulating mountains of unresolved cases.
The trustees cannot be held responsible for the slow bureaucratic pace.
It is perhaps a deliberate Govt. ploy to take over temples and get more
money?
5) Chief Minister
Deshmukh ordered the drafting of this new law after a stampede as an eye
wash that killed 267 people at Mandradevi Temple in
Satara in January 2005. The Maharashtra Govt. has appointed an Enquiry
Commission under the chairmanship of Justice Rajan Kocher to enquire
into this accident. Then why was it necessary to hurriedly enact this
law before the enquiry commission finalized its report identifying the
causes of the accident? If as reported the stampede was caused by an
electric cable breaking and causing a short circuit, then the Govt.
should be held responsible as the arrangements for the pilgrimage are
the State's responsibility. The authorities should have been even more
vigilant due to the prospect of terrorist attacks on pilgrim centers.
It may be mentioned that not long ago, 50 persons lost their lives in
the stampede at the Kumbha Mela in Nasik, the administration of which
was the responsibility of the State govt. Similarly, some persons were
also killed recently in the stampede at the Jagannath Puri temple, which
has also been taken over by the Govt. Such unfortunate events as the
stampede at Mandradevi temple, which in reality are the result of
failure of the Govt. to execute its responsibility, should not be
utilized as grounds to punish the Hindu community as a whole by taking
over the temples and religious institutions.
6)
The previous state
Governor, Dr. Mohammed Fazal, had warned the Govt. against interfering
in religious and charitable activities. During that
period the Law and Justice Minister of the state Govt., Shri Govindrao
Adik, had planned to enforce the 13th Law Commission report for taking
over temples and religious institutions. However, this proposal would
have affected only temples with income of over Rs. 9 lakhs per year. The
Govt. had to shelve the report due to Dr. Fazal's directive. The same
directive based on law and secularist philosophy is valid in the present
case and therefore, should be adhered to.
7)
Here are some basic questions that the state govt. must answer before
unleashing its power grabbing scheme: What
authority, background and special training the government operatives
posses for controlling every aspect of the cultural centers when the
concept of secularism - neutrality towards religions - is enshrined in
the Indian constitution? Why not allow autonomous Hindu boards to govern
temples under the guidance of religious leaders, just as it is
permissible in the case of other religions? The Waqf Board of Muslims
and the management of Christian religious institutions have vast funds,
properties and endowments, in addition to the immense flow of foreign
funds - yet their independence and autonomy is left intact!
8) The state
authorities seem oblivious that under the provisions of the Indian
constitution, controlling, discriminating, managing, reforming or
patronizing religions is completely and fully outside the parameters of
government jurisdiction. Thus, there is undeniable
justification about the allegation of fraud on Hindus by taking over
their religious shrines and resources on flimsy and unproven grounds of
mismanagement aimed at bringing the progress and propagation of Hinduism
to a grinding halt. Further, the intrusion by the authorities in an
otherwise autonomous domain could constitute a serious charge against
the state itself for being a leading instrument of dismantling Hinduism.
9)
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. 380 crores annually (including subsidy to airlines),
provides Rs. 1000 crores per year for Imams salaries, and reservations
are made on the basis of religious minority status, but on the other
hand the authorities are crusading to destroy the self- supporting
foundations and structures of Hindu places of worship by clamping state
control upon them. Democratic and secular governments do not patronize
or penalize religions. Such extra legal actions constitute a reverse
discrimination against the religion of India's majority community.
10) Govt. Control
of Temples violates Laws of the Land: The Govt. is
charged with the responsibility of upholding the law but in the present
case the state would be violating the constitution by robbing the Hindus
their 'Religious Rights' guaranteed under the Indian Constitution.
It must be noted that: a) In Karnataka, a division bench comprising of
Justice R Gururajan and Justice C R Kumaraswamy struck down the
endowment Act stating 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; and b)
The Allahabad High Court directed the Central and Uttar Pradesh
authorities to prepare a scheme for establishing a Board for Hindu
religious organizations on the pattern of the UP Muslim Waqf Board
(attachment C) It would be appropriate for the Maharashtra Govt. to
follow the judgments issued by these highest judicial bodies.
Anticipating possible dishonorable designs in various administrations
the Indian Parliament adopted a law in 1991 specifically requiring that
-"the status of religious places, as on August 15, 1947 shall be
retained". The state Govt. is duty bound to
uphold this commitment made by a national law and let the religious
places remain outside Govt. Control as they were in 1947. In case of
conflicts or contradictions between the state and national laws the
national law receives the precedence.
11) Why is Govt.
privatizing its services yet nationalizing temples ?
Influenced by economic realism and the need for efficient managemant,
the governments are currently on a privatization drive for all important
Industries. Not only Maruti, Centaur Hotel, but important services like
the Electric Supply are also being privatized. With these instances of
proven Govt. philosophy or incapability and mismanagement, there is no
reason to believe that official control could play a useful role in
temple management. This has already been proved in other states as well
as the temples under state control in Maharashtra.
12)
Govt. control denies temples of their vital
Functions: The temples are not just for rituals
by purohits 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 - would not only
be denied by the control of a secular state, but the deliberate and
irreversible Govt. actions in liquidating and diverting resources of
endowments meant for sustenance in perpetuity could stop these all
together. A Hindu Council overseeing the
endowments and trusts could also guide the Govt. on such specialized and
spiritual mattes that are beyond the realm or competence of a secular
Govt.
13)
Formation of Hindu Board for autonomous
governance, the eventual solution: May we
suggest that the representatives of shrines, temples, Hindu community
and religious leaders from Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, etc. be motivated
to convene an assembly where they could be asked to take charge of
clearly defining the new legal framework for the community governance of
temples and other religious places in the state. Such a framework should
be developed in accordance with the religious needs and the wishes of
devotees, donors, Acharyas and the community, who have supported these
institutions since ancient times.
Introduction of an all inclusive approach among other things could make
the Board completely autonomous responsible for the entire
administration including planning, executing, auditing, guiding,
investigating and taking corrective steps on any allegations and or
complaints as and when needed.
14)
The Govt.
must allow community participation through Advisory Hindu Councils.
Such Councils could play a role in oversight and decision making process
of the endowments department, Charity Commission and temple Trusts. The
same methodology could apply to the Siddhi Vinayaka, Shirdi Saibaba and
Sri Vitthal temples where Councils elected or nominated by the Community
and Acharya Sabha could shoulder these responsibilities. Additionally
these Councils could also stop desecration and decimation of the
religious infrastructure under Govt. control, pending
denationalization.
Hindu
Community is the real owner:
Government must understand that the temples and their endowments have
been built over centuries by our forefathers and it is the community
which is the real owner and which must have the final say in the
management and utilization of temple resource.
15)
Hon'ble Chief Minister, Shri Deshmukh, the Maharashtra Govt. must
re-examine the need and desirability of adopting the draconian laws that
: i) are violative of the Constitution; ii)
infringe the clearly expressed will of Parliament; iii) are against the
universally accepted norms in all free and democratic societies; and,
iv) amount to suppression of Hindus human right of religious freedom
For providing immediate and much needed relief to the Hindu community
may we request you for taking the following measures without further
loss of time:
a)
co-opt Advisory Hindu Councils to guide and
oversee management of the endowment department, Charity Commission and
temple Trusts, for assuring transparency and fulfilling the vital
religious functions according to the wishes of religious organizations
and the community till denationalization is realized;
b) Have the
proposed Bill withdrawn and retain the status quo for now;
c)
take urgent steps to denationalize Sri Siddhi Vinayak temple, Shirdh's
Saibaba Devasthan, and the Sri Vitthal Temple at Pandharpur; and,
d) let your Govt.
develop a plan, for setting up a Board on the pattern of the UP Muslim
Waqf Board, for the management and governance of the Hindu religious
institutions in Maharashtra (Attach: C);
Before closing we once again emphasize that the denial of freedom to the
majority community in managing its places of religious worship and
continuing intrusion and imposition of governmental dictates in an
otherwise autonomous domain, will justify the charge against your
administration of being anti- Hindu and anti- secular.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
June 05 , 2007
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
Attachment A
VHP appeals Hindus to
revolt against anti-Hindu Bills!
May
11, 2007
http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/article/anti-hindu-laws/temples-bill/protests/vhp-appeals-hindus-to-revolt-against-anti-hindu-bills.html
Ratnagiri:
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will be staging agitation through out the
State against the Government' ploy to take over management of all
temples in the State. A committee has been formed to oppose such
take-over. In the meeting held to plan about the future course of
action, it was decided to spread the word about the 'take-over' to all
Hindus. Hand-bills were distributed on the occasion. 'Nationalization of
temples' is a step taken by the State Government against Hindus and all
Hindus should revolt and compel the Govt. to withdraw the proposed Bill,
it is said in the hand-bill.
It
has been mentioned in the said pamphlet that the Govt. is planning to
make use of the funds to repay its debts. On the recommendations of the
15th Law Commission, the Govt. is planning to take over temples and
religious institutions. Under the proposed Act, the Govt. will have the
power to immediately dissolve any trust and take over its management.
Thus donations made by Hindus will be controlled by the Govt.
The
'secular' Govt. has thus taken anti-Hindu action and has left all
mosques, durgahs and madarassas registered with Wakf Board so also
churches from the purview of the proposed Act. There are ample instances
of malpractices in managing the funds of temple trusts like Sree
Siddhivinayak Temple which are under the control of the Government. Then
how will the Govt. manage 450000 temples?
Source:
'
Daily Sanatan
Prabhat
Attachment B
Siddhivinayak Trust Scam
All
Siddhivinayak devotees should remember that Maharashtra Govt. took over
the Siddhivinayak trust in 1981. Maharashtra Govt. appoints custodians
and trustees for the temple to manage its activities. Donations made by
devotees in Millions rest in the hands of these appointed trustees.
The
Donations from the devotees are being misused as per the whims and
fancies of the trustees and Government. Millions of rupees are siphoned
of into companies owned by Ministers, for their use. While this matter
was sub-judice, the trustees blew up Millions on their meetings in 7
stars hotels! Is blowing up the hard earned money of devotees, not a
cruel mockery of democracy?
The Tipnis report:
Siddhivinayak temple fraud synopsis
http://www.hindujagruti.org/activities/campaigns/religious/save-temples/siddhivinayak/tipnis.php
Shri
Keval Semlani, a local resident of Prabhadevi had filed a litigation in
2003 against the temple trust accusing the trust of giving away huge
donations to organistions owned by politicians.
Organisations mentioned in the litigation by Mr. Semlani and donations
received from Siddhivinayak temple trust :
1.
Dada Undalkar Smarak Samiti - Rs. 86 Lakhs
2. Shikshan prasarak Mandal Kankavli - Rs. 50 Lakhs
3. Sindhudurg Prasarak Mandal - Rs. 50 Lakhs
4. Shivtej Arogya Seva Samiti - Rs. 50 Lakhs.
The
High Court appointed a special enquiry committee led by Shri Vijay
Tipnis, ex-magistrate, to examine the monetary affairs of the
Siddhivinayak temple trust. The Report submitted by the committee
exposed the trust and its corrupt affairs to the world.
Government Nationalized the Siddhivinayak temple trust according to a
new law in 1981. This law entitles a committee of 11 members to control
functioning of the trust. However, the selection criteria for posts of
treasurer, President are not specified.
Present Treasurer : Mrs. Vijaya Patil
(Characteristic : She herself is an Atheist)
Chief Executive Officer(?!) : Shri Sanjay Bhagwat (Attitude devotees
are customers!) (He is not CEO now - editor)
These
people who have been selected out of personal contacts of the ruling
parties have now been proven to be beneficiaries of the ruling Sonia
Congress and Nationalist Congress parties.
Directions to use of temple funds
The
law mentions that the temple Funds must be first used for maintenance
and repairing of temple premises and idol. Secondly, it should be used
for providing facilities to devotees. Thirdly, If any amount remains, it
should be used to construct restrooms for devotees and with permission
of the Government, may be used for monetary help to educational
organisations, hospitals and dharmic organisations only. Lastly, there
is a special mention that prior to donating, the temple trust must be
able to prove that the Funds are Surplus.
A summary of corrupt
affairs of the trust
Siddhivinayak ttrust has become a personal "Jagir" for the ministers -
Tipnis Report
·
600
applications for donations have been lying since 1994.
· Subsequent to the trust's decision to reject any applications before
2000, since 2001, 364 applications have been considered out of which
several have been given, several rejected and several shortlisted
donations have never been given.
· Eligibility criteria and reason for donations have not been mentioned in
any of the donations made.
· Donations have been made solely on the recommendations and personal
contacts of certain political references. This has been the only major
criterion in many cases.
· Some
donations have been made urgently avoiding the formal protocols whereas
some donations inspite of being approved stand delayed!
· Involvement of
politicians:
Some names mentioned in the Tipnis Report.
o
Shri.
Narayan Rane(Congress): Previously Shiv Sena MLA and former Chief
Minister but now a Congress MLA.
o
Shri.
Vilasrao Deshmukh: Maharashtra's present Chief Minister
o
Shri.
Govindrao Adik: Then law and justice minister
o
Shri.
Dilip Sopal
· Disobedience of the High
Court:
The High Court passed an order after Keval Semlani litigation
prohibiting Siddhivinayak temple trust from giving out any donations.
Inspite of that several hundred donations have been made
indiscriminately after the court's decision.
· Legal Minister's illegal
affairs:
No fixed protocol, no System has been followed in the case of accepting
applications for donations. Donations have been mostly accepted for
Organisations linked with prominent political figures. The clause 18 (3)
which states that no trust should give away donations without explicitly
stating reasons thereof. Nowhere in the case of Siddhivinayak trust
Donations, have the reasons been mentioned and the Government has never
objected.
· As per
the trust law, every 3 years a new committee of trustees is elected. In
the period between 3rd November 2003 and August 2004, 4 trustees namely
Smt. Vijaya Patil (favored by Shri. Govindrao Aadik, Minister), Ravi
Bhandari, Sadanand Mandalik and Ravi Goenka. The biggest corruption
frauds have happened in this period. Although this committee had
provisioned Rs. 5 Crores for Donations for the fiscal 2004-05, in
reality, more than Rs. 7.5 crores were given out in donations during the
year, for which deposits were debitted from the trust's Balance Sheet
causing a cost of interest of Rs. 2 lacs.
· Shri.
Vijay Tipnis has stated in his report that temple trust Staff is neither
sufficiently qualified nor motivated to take good care of devotee's and
visitor's needs.
· Finally the Report alleges that the State Ministers do not supervise but
utilise the temple trust for their own personal benefits. The trust has
become a personal "Jagir" for the ministers.
Quote:
''The most shocking aspect of the matter is that there is no method or
principle followed for particular institutions. The only criteria for
selection was recommendation or reference by trustees or the minister or
a political heavy-weight, generally belonging to ruling party'' the
committee said in the report submitted to the Bombay High Court.
(Ref:
UNI news)
Attachment C
Make
Waqf-like board for Hindu religious bodies: HC
Press Trust of India
Allahabad, June 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1714562,000900010004.htm
Hindustan Times
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh
to prepare a scheme for constitution of a Board for Hindu religious
organisations on the pattern of the UP Muslim Waqf Board. Passing the
order, Justice SN Srivastava said the Board so constituted shall be an
autonomous body and it will register all such religious and charitable
establishments and endowments according to the norms represented by
mutts, monasteries, temples and religious and charitable trusts or
societies, as the case may be, through their heads.
The Centre as well as the state government may also frame schemes for
providing minimum wages and other welfare measures for those working in
temples, the court added.
The judgement was passed on a writ petition filed by Shree Satya Narain
Tulsi Manas Mandir at Varanasi.
The court said that the schemes so framed may be placed before the court
on September nine.
The court was of the view that though provisions of Minimum Wages Act
were not applicable to temple as it is not an industry, fair wages
cannot be denied merely on the ground that the establishment or
institution is of a religious or charitable nature or that persons who
are engaged are 'sevadars' or employees at the pleasure of management
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