Letter to Shri H. D. Kumaraswamy , Chief Minister, Karnataka   

Subject: a) Set up Hindu Advisory Councils for temple management and to pursue their religious mission; b) Amend state Laws to restore autonomy of temples, community governance and human rights of religious freedom.  

Hon'ble Chief Minister Kumaraswamy,  

To begin with we would like to affirm that the Karnataka High Court deserves to be commended for its historic judgment striking down the Endowment Act as it 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. This significant verdict has been welcomed by the judicial experts and Hindu community worldwide. The judgment constitutes a step forward for establishing the rule of Law in the religious domain and for aiding the Hindu religious institutions become free and autonomous to pursue their religious mission. Another important step would be for Govt. to co-opt  Hindu Advisory Councils for overseeing the Endowment for badly needed transparency and effective management. 

However, the state Govt. managed to get a stay order from the Supreme Court under the pretext that "if there are defects in the Act, normally the relevant sections are struck down but here the whole Act had been struck down in its entirety. The Act was intended to regulate religious activity and there was no violation of the Article 14 "(attachment A). Nonetheless the High Court verdict makes it abundantly clear that community and not the state should be free to manage the religious affairs and allied matters. This part of the judicially most viable opinion of the court continues to be violated. The state’s strategy for obtaining a stay order on the ground that only some sections of the questionable law should have been struck down,  points to the Govt. intention of continued illegal control and exploitation of temples. 

Understanding the lawless and frivolous foundation of this argument, we hope that the committee appointed by the Govt.  and headed by the former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Shri Rama Jois  to review the Endowment legislation, will consider all relevant aspects of the issue before making its recommendations. It is important that all sections of the concerned public are encouraged to offer their input to the said committee and the fundamental questions of autonomy of temples and community governance, which are prevalent in other religions, are given equal and due weight in the case of a billion plus Hindus as well. 

1) The Karnataka state devastates Temples by siphoning off their revenue to promote adversarial religions  without any justifiable legal authority. It simply diverts their funds to enhance the Muslim run Mosques and Madrasas and Christian run churches. Such discrimination against Hindus and patronage for Muslims and Christians is highly questionable, illegal and provocative to Hindus worldwide. One might ask how much money is taken by the state from mosques and churches to promote Hinduism? In the year 2002-2003, out of Rs 79 crores of temple revenues, Rs. 59.15 crores was given away to mosques, Madrasas, Hajj, etc. , Rs. 12.75 crores was given to Christian institutions and a mere Rs.  7.1 crores were allocated to maintain over 248,000 temples (attachment B). It should also be noted that during the previous five years the number of temple has been reduced from 267,000 to 248,000.  Some 19,000 temples have been closed down while many others find it hard to sustain and maintain even minimum rituals due to financial strangulation courtesy of the state Govt. 

 No where in the world does a Govt. engage in such robbery of one religion to benefit its competitors.  Without a doubt such extra legal actions constitute a reverse discrimination against the religion of India’s majority community.  

Further, in Dec. 2003, seemingly in its continuing anti- Hinduism campaign, the Govt. proclaimed that under the existing powers it would take over all private and trust managed temples including Mutts. But that bold yet hollow declaration, had to be shelved because of the strongest ever opposition by the general populous (attachment C). 

2) 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 Karnataka authorities are crusading to destroy the self- supporting foundations and structures of Hindu places of worship by financial strangulation and diverting funds to adversarial religions, thus effectively demolishing the Hindu religious infrastructure.   

 3) Govt. Control of Temples violates Laws of the Land:  Apart from the Karnataka HC striking down the Endowment Act as violating the Constitution, the Allahabad High Court has 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 D). It would be appropriate and legally prudent for the Karnataka Govt. to consider and follow the judgments of these highest judicial bodies.  

Parliamentary Act on retaining status of religious places must be followed: 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 governments are 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.  

4) 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 could be justification for the allegation of fraud on Hindus by taking over their religious shrines and their resources on flimsy and unproven grounds of mismanagement and thereby bringing the progress and propagation of Hinduism to a grinding halt. To establish the bona fides of the Govt. it would be desirable, if in the first place a Hindu Advisory Council is co-opted to oversee and participate in the management of the shrines. 

5) Here are some basic issues that the state govt. must address publicly:  What authority, background and special training the government operatives posses for controlling every aspect of the Hindu 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!

6) Govt. meddling in shrines is unacceptable to all religious communities:  Hon'ble Chief Minister, may we bring to your kind attention the resentment in Kashmir on repair of mosques by the Indian Army, under a "sadbhavana" (goodwill) project (attachment E). The army had to abandon a goodwill drive to repair old mosques in Jammu and Kashmir, days after the state's top clerics threatened mass action if it did not stop the controversial program.  

Similarly, when the GOI repaired the holy Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar, after the so- called Blue Star operation in 1984, the renovations were undone by religious Sikhs and they made repairs on their own, with their own labor and resources.

These two instances should suffice to indicate that Govt. meddling is deeply resented, is counter productive and could result in such counter reactionary violence that we see in Kashmir, and that resulted in PM Indira Gandhi's assassination. 

7)  Vital Functions of temples denied: 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 state control, but the deliberate and irreversible Govt. actions in liquidating resources of endowments meant for sustenance in perpetuity could stop these for good.  

8) Govt. argument that temples need regulation is faulty, untenable and misleading:  It is so, particularly in view of the incompetent and disastrous official management of temples. The plea of the state Govt. before the SC that Hindu temples need regulation (attachment A) is absolutely misleading. The authorities have left the Muslim and Christian institutions totally untouched, as if they were not in need of reforms. 

In its utter disregard towards the legal and constitutional requirements even  the Karnataka State legislature ignored to pass new laws and instead continued with laws on temples that are : a) violative of the Constitution (attachment E) ; b) infringe the clearly expressed will of Parliament;  and, c) are against the universally accepted norms in all free and democratic societies? 

Whatever its mysterious intent, the Karnataka Govt. considers Hinduism as its inherited domain; therefore, it does not provide for any transparency, financial reports and community participation in its temple management system. Consequently with massive and gross mismanagement, it aids in helping to decimate the Hindu religious infrastructure. 

9) Formation of autonomous Hindu Boards for temples governance under community guidance:  Hon'ble Chief Minister, for social reformation and temple administration there must be representative yet autonomous Hindu Boards with full jurisdiction over temple governance and management. May we suggest that the representatives of shrines, temples, Hindu community and state and national religious leaders from Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, Dharma Sansad, etc., be motivated to convene an assembly where they could be asked to take charge of clearly defining new legal framework for the community governance of temples and other religious places in the state.  

Since freedom to manage their religious places is available to all communities why should it be denied to Hindus? Furthermore, Hindus have proved worthy of holding highest Govt. positions, executive positions in industry and other fields with exemplary successes; there is no reason to bar them from running and managing their own religious institutions with the same excellence.  

Formation of  Boards/ Trusts without community control will be deeply flawed, undemocratic, an affront to the entire Hindu Samaj and unacceptable to the community. 

10) Progressive Hindu Boards could undertake the task of Social reformation within the community, and remove one of the major hurdles that cut at the very roots of the national unity.  It is well known that caste based polarization, related to Dalits and others, has been further enlarged by political and minority horse traders whose political lives depend on divisive fragmentation. This volatile phenomenon could be alleviated through awareness campaign spearheaded by the liberated temples with reformist background and enlightened Dharma Acharyas dedicated to social cohesiveness.  

It is worth noting that before his politically motivated arrest, the Kanchi Shankaracharya, used to frequently visit Dalits in their colonies and facilitate their participation in joint religious ceremonies. By so doing he was bringing down the artificially erected social barriers in search of much needed social and national unity.  

Similarly, involving villagers and the weaker sections in progressive educational, dharmik and social activities will build hope in them thus reducing chances of their joining disruptive movements like the Naxals and Maoists in sheer anger and desperation. They will realize and appreciate that society cares. Once volunteer social network is in place, it could also be extended on other issues like water harvesting and educating public against anti- Dalits bias, etc.  

11) The Govt. must make room for community’s superior role in interim temple management through Hindu Advisory Councils:  Such Councils could play a role in oversight and decision making process of the endowments department and temple Trusts, where Councils elected or nominated by the Community and state and national religious leaders could shoulder these responsibilities.  Additionally these Councils could also stop desecration and decimation of the religious infrastructure under Govt. control,  pending denationalization, and till autonomous Boards are constituted for taking over the charge.

Government must realize 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 resources. 

12)  Hon'ble Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, may we request for your "Sadbhavana"  (goodwill):  The takeover of temples by secular administrations is an issue that agitates Hindus not only in Karnataka but across India and worldwide. The arrogation of powers by the State to decide the complexion and fate of Hinduism is a rude warning to Hindus who must stand up, mobilize and retaliate to defend their religion and way of life.  

Unless there is active community governance and autonomy in the religious domain, the Govt. control of temples will remain a contentious issue.  It is highly unethical and politically indefensible for progressive, democratic and secular governments to discriminatively target Hindu temples for their exploitative control.  

14) It is a matter of national shame that even after 60 years of independence, Hindus are denied human right to religious freedom: The Hindu world is baffled and indignant as to why autonomous Hindu Boards are denied the right to govern temples under the guidance of religious leaders, a practice prevalent in other religious formations.  Indeed it may be the time for them to follow Lord Krishna's message in the Geeta for launching the "dharma raksha" and "dharma samsthapana" campaigns. 

 15) Hon'ble Chief Minister, after decades of religious persecution,  any new legislation on endowments must assure full right to equality, freedom of practice and propagation of religion and to manage religious affairs, without govt. interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution. May we suggest the following for your kind attention and action to rectify the injustices inflicted upon Hindus:  

a)  Restore community’s superior role in temple management through Hindu Advisory Councils immediately.  Such Councils could play a role in oversight and decision making process of the endowments department and temple Trusts; and prevent anti- Hindu management assuring oversight, transparency and constructive guidance of endowment department and Temple Trusts - till denationalization is realized.   

b) Seek the Rama Jois committee’s advice on procedures and pathways for transferring the temples from Endowment control to autonomous Hindu Boards. 

c) Make public a time table for ending unconstitutional Govt. control of Temples and for transferring their jurisdiction in its entirety to autonomous Hindu Boards;

d) In the interim, please make the endowments department transparent and open to public scrutiny with immediate effect;

e) freeze all plans and actions in the domain of temples except for their routine maintenance,  pujaris salaries, temple rituals, etc. ;  Any major changes in physical structures or in the conduct of religious practices, diversion of revenues, sale/ transfer of lands and properties or major projects must not become operative without the express approval by the community; and  

f)  End unconstitutional taxation of temples and put a freeze on sale of temple lands, stop encroachments and take action for recovery of illegally occupied temple lands  

Thanks for your time and consideration.


Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
 July 02, 2007 

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Attachment A 

Karnataka Govt. Challenges HC order on Hindu Religious endowment Act in SC

Prabhakar Rao

The Indian Express

New Delhi April 2 : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Sahasra Lingeshwara
Temple and others on a special Leave Petetion Filed by the state of Karnataka Challenging the
order of the High Court striking down the act, Viz., The Karnataka Hindu Religious endowment
Act, 1997

A bench comprising Justice H.K.Sema and Lokeshwar Singh Panta of the High Court order in
this regard. The HC had struck down the Act Holding that it was violative of Article 14 and 21 of
the Constitution of India

Senior Counsel P Vishwanath Shetty and Sanjay Hegde appearing for the State of Karnataka
Contended that if there are defects in the act, normally the relevant sections are struck down but
here the whole Act had been struck down in its entirety. The Act was intended to regulate
religious and there was no violation of the Article 14, they felt.
(The New Indian Express, Bangalore edition, Page – 5)

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Attachment B 

         Statement of Receipts and disbursements of revenues from Temples

                                                Govt. of Karnataka

         Statement of Allocation of Revenue for development purposes

Revenue/Expense  From Temples

* Disbursement for minority comm. development

**  Women and child welfare programs 

Note: These are approx. Figures

Source: Chief Minister's Office, Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore PH: 2225 3414 / 2225 3424 

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Attachment C 

Karnataka State Temple Plan Protested

India Today Dec 15, 2003

The Trust in Temples

BANGALORE The S.M. Krishna Government has stirred up another temple controversy. Its proposal to take over management of all private and trust-managed temples have raised hackles. Says Sri Vishveshwara Theertha of Udupi Pejawar math: "This would only give scope for corruption." Others are equally upset. Hindu Dharmika Samsthe Hitharakshna Samiti spokesman G.R. Suresh accuses the Government of diverting Rs 69 crore collected from nearly two lakh temples: only Rs 13.75 crore were given for temple maintenance as against the madarsa-Haj subsidy of Rs 35 crore.

Another critic of the proposal is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living. "The Government, which failed to manage the PSUs, is now eyeing the temples. This dual stand is unacceptable," he says. The Udupi seer draws a different parallel. "When mosques and churches are enjoying total freedom, why does the Government need to interfere in the administration of temples?" he asks. If necessary, it can float an autonomous body to monitor temples, the Swami suggests.

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 Attachment D 

Make Waqf-like board for Hindu religious bodies: HC

Press Trust of India
Allahabad, June 6, 2006