Hindu temples being looted by the Indian Government !

 

Non-Muslims would never be made trustees or guardians of mosques.
Non-Christians would never be made trustees or guardians of churches.
Non-Sikhs would never be made trustees or guardians of gurudwaras.

So why should non-Hindus be allowed to be trustees or guardians of Hindu temples ?

The government of India, at the centre and in the states, actively places non-Hindus as overseers of Hindu temples.  Indeed, Hindu temples are the only institutions to be “acquired” by the government to “make sure its finances are not misused”.  Why ?  Aren’t Muslims, Sikhs or Christians just as vunerable to their religious institutions being misappropriated ?  Indeed, over the years, it has been amply proven that they are more in need of assistance than any temple !   The Golden Temple at Amritsar, along with several others, was misused by terrorists and separatists to hoard weapons, terrorists and anti-national literature.  A major government / army action had to be instigated to remove this in the 1980s.  Yet, Gurudwaras remain free of government control.

Recently, mosques and madrassas have been routinely used as hiding places by spies and anti-India terrorists.  They have been used in Kashmir as safe houses and as arms dumps.  Government is well aware of the activities of several Imams who spew communal hatred on weekly basis to muslims gathered for the Friday prayers.  No one in the government sees it fit to regulate their affairs by putting a government body to oversee their activities.

Christian missionaries regularly convert people by offering inducements of job, money, housing and education.  Often, illiterate parents are promised great futures for their children if they convert and send their children to the mission school.  Amongst these missionaries, sexual / physical abuse is well known and internationally documented.  Yet, Christian institutions remain free of any control to make sure they do not misuse the trust of their congregation or mislead people by convert by false promises.

Hind temples have never been misused to hoard anti-India people or literature. 
Hindu temples have never sheltered terrorists or arms and ammunition.
YET, Hindus have to submit their temple to stringent government control.

Finances of the richest Hindu temples are taken over by the government and are redistributed by them as they see fit.  Non-Hindus are places at the helm of these overbearing government committees and all the wishes of the devotes are ignored to please the political appointees.   Harking back to the days when muslims and christians ruled us with an iron grip, proscribing our religious life to force us to convert, the politicians of today, are hurting the Hindus.

Hindus should demand that their temples be free of outside interference. 
Hindus should demand that only Hindus, and only members of their own sect, be allowed to sit on the committees that oversee the funds and activities of the temple.
Hindus should demand that they be in charge of how the funds contributed by them, are disbursed.

Hindu temples especially the well known, well funded, are often in bad state of repair.
Why ?

Hindu temples, especially in popular pilgrimage centres, are overflowing with beggers.
Why ?

Hindu temples, especially in sacred places are not peaceful preserves they once were.
Why ?

Hindu temples, once their finances are taken over by the government, are unable to use that money to repair or restore any part of the building without the government overlords’s say so.  Pealing paintwork, damaged art works and stones covered over with lichen are all too familiar sights even in the richest of Hindu temples.  Crumbling architecture is often allowed to fall before any action is taken.  When action is taken, it is often not in keeping with the architectural style of the original and is often concrete walls covered over with tasteless marble tiles.

Security at Hindu temples is lax at best and non-existent at worst.  No one seems to care or consider the impact of the recent terrorist plans on our culture and country.  Even after Akshardham in Gujarat was attacked, no one seems to take the threat seriously !!  Diwali 2005, Dehli was attacked.  On 7th of March 2006, Varanasi was attacked !  The security apparatus in India needs to awaken to this new danger to our cultural independence.

Money flowing into the temple coffers is emptied with equal speed and often the temple priests are forced to rely on pilgrims to supplement their meagre wages, set to 1970s standards.  This leads to priests being labled as greedy and grasping.  They are only trying to earn a living, denied to them by their own temple boards.

In the old days, temples used to distribute food to the needy, poor, pilgrims and sadhus alike.  Now, that their source of funds are ceased by the government, they can’t do the charity work as before.  The poor are forced to beg from the pilgrims rather than rely on the temple board to feed them.   No social works are carried out by the government to alleviate the poverty in pilgrimage sites.  They simply appropriate the temple funds to supplement charities motivated by their politically leanings.

The government, local, state and central, does nothing to help the pilgrimage sites from encroachment.  Illegal land grabs, stall holders on every inch of land left vacant and buildings unsympathetic to the environment of the place abound.  No rules are put in place to make sure the place is kept noise and pollution free.  Shops blare out music of all sorts at high volume day and night.  Open gutters, stray animals and lack of dustbins leaves entire pilgrimage site an unsightly mess.  The money garnered from pilgrims, should be used to improve the environs of the temple town.  Roads should be made easy to navigate and shops regulated to make sure they do not sell substandard items to the pilgrims.  Noise and environmental pollution should be checked to make sure the sanctity of the town is maintained.  Sadly, currently, none of this happens and Hindus suffer day and night in places that are most sacred to them.

Money garnered from hard working Hindus is stiffened off to pay the minority projects supported by our so called secular politicians.  One such example is the Hajj subsidy paid to muslims.  Hindus do not get any help for their pilgrimages, yet muslims do !  Hajj subsidy is against the Sharia and is not offered by any of the Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia.  Yet, muslims in India keep availing this unfair, un-islamic aid.  Christian churches, missions and schools are given government land at throw away prices, where as temple lands are confiscated and re-allocated by the government to their favourite projects.

Hindu leaders, such as the Shankaracharya of Kanchi are unfairly accused to neutralise their power and appeal to the minority vote banks.  By foisting unreasonable cases on them, the government hopes to drain them of financial resources and keep them in fighting the courts rather than carrying out the good works amongst the community.  The recent case of Swami Ramdev has proved, that the political parties are out to get Hindus in any way they can.  Now that all allegations against his pharmacy have been proven false, I wonder if the political leaders who falsely accused him, will apologise !  Hindu leaders need to stand as one to make sure they are not taken advantage of by the government.

 

What should Hindus do !

Our scriptures bear witness to several instances when kings become envious of rishis' wealth and try to steal their Kamdhenu. King Sahartrajun and Vishvamitra are two prominent examples. The sacred Kamdhenu (divine cow) is there to help a rishi perform his sacred duties and take care of the students, elderly and sanyasis under his care. Lets not forget, in the ancient times, people used to leave their home and dwell in an ashram in their old age. Rishis needed all the help they could get to take care of the young and the old in the ashram.

However, the wealth at the disposal of the rishi was occasionally coveted by the rich and the powerful. They tried to take away this sacred wealth by force and were punished for it. Sahastrajun was killed by Lord Parashuram and later, the entire political / military establishment was wiped out due to their greed for the sacred wealth. Vishwamitra initially fought, lost, and later reformed himself and gave up all he had as a king to become a rishi.  Shri Krushna, during His Dwarika lila warned Yadavas not to take away the sacred wealth by the example of Nruga-raja who became a chameleon on account of having accidentally misappropriated a cow given to a brahmin.

Sadly, the current political leader of India care not to learn from our history, let alone scriptures ! Like the corrupt and covetous rulers of old, they too want to steal the Kamdhenu of our Hindu temples and trusts. They want the funds collected by our Hindu temples and want to use them for non-Hindu, non-Dhramic purposes. Many states already do this, stealing the resources of the temples without giving anything in return.  This is a terrible act and all of us, as Hindus, should stand up against it.  Without sectarian bias, we must all stand up and resist this in anyway we can.

Hindus must awake and demand their rights.
Hindus must unite and get the noose of government control off the neck of their religious institutions.
Hindus must form a united front so that the “minority” centric politics comes to an end in India !!
Hindus abroad must also take an active part in politics to make sure their views are well represented at all levels of government and legislature.

Hindus must stop financially helping any temple taken over by the government.  Go to the temple, and go in large numbers, but do not put a penny in the hundi.  Support the local priests by giving them cash in hand, but do not give a penny to the temple authorities, as any money given will be immediately taken away by the government. 

Once the very reason for government take over – money – is gone, the government will have one of two choices – to revert the temple to the people, or support it out of its own funds !  My bet is, they will revert it – the greed of the government is such, they do not care to take over the temple for cultural or religious reason, only monetary.  Once the reason de etre is gone, so will the government goons who will not be able to suck any more blood out of the pilgrims that go there.

I am not asking anyone to become a miser.  The money you save from helping “famous” temples, can be used to help local ones.  The money in a temple is suppose to be used for social and cultural activities, so why not donate your money to this end directly ?

Instead of supporting such government controlled temples, help renovate old ones that are being neglected in your own city, town, village.  There are hundreds of religious institutions crying out for essential repairs – repairs to the boundary walls (to stop illegal land grabs), repair to the structure of the buildings – gates, halls, sanctum etc, improve the facilities such as running water, electricity (solar is a good option – saves money and is better than relying on the electricity board – especially in a remote village), renovate the temple tank / garden etc.  I am sure there are hundreds of things you can do – just go and ask the local temple trustees.

Help institutions such as orphanages, old people’s homes and widows homes.  Not ones run by Christians or Muslims, but Hindus.  Hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.  If you help non-Hindu outfits to do “social work”, the people they help will eventually convert to their cause / religion.  Its only natural !  So, why use your hard earned money to help create your own adversaries ?  Help Hindu outfits do social work – there are plenty around.  Help our own people with our own money !   Afterall, its our responsibility to take care of our people !

Support cultural activities.  Even if you aren’t that interested in art and culture of ancient India, support it !  Give an advert at cultural function, sponser a musician / dancer, buy quality art made direct from the artist, buy Hindu music on CDs and tape – do not copy it !  Encourage your children and nephews / nieces to take up cultural activities - dance, music, language etc.  Read Amar Chitra Kathas or similar stories on a regular basis to your children.  Instil pride in our culture and history.  The government books are too politically doctored to be of any real use to anyone.  Seek other sources to make sure you are proud to be an Indian and a Hindu !

Help your domestic servant / their children with their studies.  Simple knowledge of letters and numbers is enough to start with.  Help their children with books or fees if possible.  All of us can spend 10-15 minutes helping them do their homework !  Most of these domestic servants have to have their children trail behind them as they work.  While the kids are waiting for their parents to finish work, help the child learn something good.   If we don't help them, you can bet the missionaries  will !  Help them become better people.  In their good will lies the future of our people.

We must unite and we must do it now !
There is no time to waste !!
Hindus must act now !!!

http://www.hindujagruti.org/eng/phpnews/news.php?action=fullnews&id=943 - Maharashtra Government is planning to take over trusts of temples and financial trusts under its 15th Regulation. At the same time, the Government is trying to exclude 80,000 Muslim Trusts from the purview of this Act.

 

Bhagwat Shah ©

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