India is a secular nation as per the constitution of India. ‘Secular’ by definition means ‘not concerned with religion’. Due to India being secular, it should not be concerned with any religion and thus act neutral when it comes to religion. However, India is not following the principles of secularism in a proper manner. Rather than being religiously neutral, it is doing things which cannot be considered neutral at all. On one hand, minority religions like Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrian, etc. are allowed to operate independently. They can run their own religious institutions without any interference from the government. This is allowed even for different forms of Hinduism including Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. These religions too, are free to manage their religious institutes. However, Hindus in real form, which is the majority community of India does not have such a freedom. Most of the temples are under the direct control of respective State governments. State governments, by enacting laws or through legislations, have brought most of the big temples under their control. This control over Hindu temples while other religious institutions continue to remain freedom is not secular. Moreover, there is no contemporary example anywhere in the world where the religious institutions of the majority religion are controlled by the state while the religious institutions of minorities flourish independently.
Recently, various state governments have tried to cross the line during their act to control the Hindu religious institutions. One of the examples is the Jagannatha Temple of Puri, Odisha. This is one of the Chaar-Dhaams and a significantly important place of worship to the Hindus. Temple administration of the Jagannatha Temple is appointed by the state government.The Law minister of Odisha had informed the state assembly that they had decided to sell off 35 thousand acres of land out of 70 thousand acres registered in the name of Lord Jagannatha in six different cities. This act is not only bad but is criminal in nature. Though the state claims that it’ll put the money into the account of Shri Jagannatha, it is very clear that value of land is not equal to that of money. Moreover, when other religious institutions are increasing their lands, why is the need to sell off the land of a Hindu temple? Additionally, who has authorised the administration to sell off the properties of Shri Jagannatha Temple? Such questions are very important to understand at this juncture.
Another example is of Tamil Nadu which is currently ruled by the DMK. DMK is a party known for its anti Hindu stand which has decided to melt the jewellery of temples received in donation. It has been told that the melted jewellery will be converted into gold bars and will be deposited in banks to generate revenue. The Tamil Nadu Government has even constituted a committee to overlook the process. This is again a blatant attack on Hindu religious institutions which are not allowed to manage their own institutions and state interference is exceeding to a limit where judiciary must interfere to stop the same. Either every religious institution should come under the ambit of state or each one should operate on its own. India can’t be a country where Hindus are treated inferior.
Author: Adv. Shashank Shekhar Jha
Legal Editor, GoaChronicle.com
