Temple trusts misused by politicians..

Temple Trusts misused by politicians.

Time has come for Hindus to free their temples from the clutches of politicians. As observed by R.N.Bhaskar (DNA, Aug.19), enormous amount of money donated by the believers to the temple trusts are being misused by politicians for their own purpose instead of using it to provide amenities to the devotees who throng temples in search of peace and happiness, if not salvation. The first charge of any temple trust must be the welfare of the devotees and the upkeep of the temple's customs and tradition. Secondly, surplus funds should be used to promote Hindu culture through the publication of books on Hindu philosophy and Hindu saints. The temple trusts can also establish schools and colleges for the general public in its vicinity. The trustees should be elected by the registered devotees of the temple as is done in case of SGPC (Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhaak Committee) and the audited accounts should be made available to the devotees.

The government take-over of temple trusts is a travesty of the Constitutional guarantee (Freedom of conscience and free profession,practice and propagation of religion, Art.25 & Freedom to manage religious affairs,Art.26) of the freedom of religion of Hindus. A secular state has no right to interfere in the religious matters. Secularism essentially means separation of religion from the state. In India, it is 'sarve dharma sama bhava' ( equal respect to all faiths), put it in the words of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the great philosopher and the former President of India. The Indian state does not treat all religions as equal. This should change.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=13&edcode=820009&eddate=2013-8-19

August 19,2013.

********

Spewing Venom.

Spewing venom.

I was amused by the reasons given by Dilip D'Souza (DNA,August 6) why he does not want to vote for Modi - he has been abused by anonymous Modi supporters, mandir, coffin scam (?), blood stain of 2002. Hundreds of riots in India since Independence which only benefits Congress, 1984, Emergency, Kashmir problem, Chinese invasion of 1962, CWG & 2G scams ( all notional & zero loss) and 400 million poor after long Congress rule are all marginal flaws – they are all by the pluralistic party opportunistically communal and are all excused. It does matter that Modi has given 24-hour electricity to Gujarat, that he has constructed thousands of bunds to store water and achieve almost 10 percent agricultural growth for a decade ( read the report by R.N.Bhaskar in DNA), he had the imagination to invite Ratan Tata to set up Nano plant in Gujarat by sms and have solar panel on Narmada canals to generate electricity and save water from evaporation.  There has been no communal riots in Gujarat in the last ten years. These are not good governance but are all communal activities. I always thought intellectuals use reason to come to any conclusions. You have made me realise that they are also human – they have their bias, their prejudices and above all, they are full of themselves. Verily, secularism is the opium of the intellectuals, facts be damned !

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=49870&boxid=16716&ed_date=2013-8-06&ed_code=820009&ed_page=8

August 6,2013.

******