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Letter to Shri R.L.
Bhatia, Governor of Kerala
Subject:
The Ordinance on reconstituting the Devaswom Boards while ignoring the
“community management” is flawed, undemocratic and highly objectionable.
Hon'ble Governor Bhatia,
We would like to bring to
your kind attention that the Hindu world is dismayed by the recent
ordinance of the Kerala Govt. namely The Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious
Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007, which was hastily promulgated on
February 4, 2007 for disbanding The Travancore and Cochin Autonomous
Devaswom Boards (TCDB). The timing, intent and integrity of the said
ordinance is extremely suspicious and questionable particularly in view of
the impending session of the State Assembly and the existence of a 3 man
commission appointed by the High Court for investigating the
allegations of corruption. The Govt. must be well aware that the takeover
of temples by the state violates the very basic precepts of separation of
state and religion mandated by the Constitution. The structural reforms of
the Boards and guidelines on audit, transparency and governance under
community oversight should be the democratic way to address concerns on
any shortcomings. The Govt. usurpation of control on flimsy excuse of
corruption and mismanagement cannot be acceptable to Hindu Society - the
real owners of temples.
It must be noted that the
previous Congress-led United Democratic Front Govt. appointed the last
Devaswom Board, now accused of large scale corruption in appointments and
purchases during the past three years (attachment A).
Such developments have immeasurably hurt the temples and shrines in the
state. To avoid further damage to shrines and the faith, there must be
community governance as in vogue in other religions, without any meddling
by the government.
The Govt. seems to have
completely ignored the fact that by taking over the Boards it has
automatically become the caretaker & trustee and therefore, accountable to
the community for the temples and their endowments. It is needless to
re-state that these entities should have been governed according to the
wishes and traditions of the Hindu samaj and not on the basis of the needs
of the Govt. After all the Hindu community, despite unconstitutional
takeover by the state, has neither surrendered nor transferred its
ownership, management and governing rights of these places of worship to
any other authority.
Some of the
stipulations contained in the questionable Ordinance are deeply troubling
as they are bound to politicize the temple management. Yet another
contentious issue is the conduct and performance of the vital temple
functions related to the traditional religious needs of the community.
Rituals and other temple functions must be conducted according to the
scriptures, wishes and sentiments of the Hindu community by specially
trained persons and not on the dictates of a non-religious bureaucracy
(attachments
B and C):
***A) The
ordinance further stipulates a three member committee for each Devaswom
Board, all of them Hindus. The woman and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribe members are to be nominated by the Ministers belonging to the Hindu
community. The other member has to be elected by the Hindu members of the
Assembly.
The selection of the
Board Member by a Hindu Minister or a Hindu MLA, who could be an atheist,
a non-believer and non-practicing person wearing a Hindu name, or a person
contemptuous of Hindus, could be counter productive and against the Hindu
interests. The Board members must understand and have a deep knowledge of
Hinduism and passion for preserving and propagating it. Such members must
be selected by the community and religious leaders. The ministers and MLAs,
under the very nature of India’s system of Govt., are “political persons”
and not voted just by Hindus on a Hindu agenda or for protecting and
propagating Hinduism. They take care of the political business of the
society and state. Therefore, to avoid the presumption of political
interference in setting up such organs it would make better sense if the
“political persons” have no role in the nomination, election or selection
of the members of religious boards.
***B) The
suggestion of handing over the
entire range of responsibilities connected with the recruitment of staff
for the Devaswoms to the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) is equally
pregnant with irrational assumptions. i)"
Under this scheme all appointments of officers and employees to man the [Devaswom]
Board, for which direct recruitment is resorted to, shall be made from a
select list of candidates furnished by the PSC"; and ii) The ordinance
further provides that "preferably, a Hindu member of the PSC may discharge
the function of conducting interview in the process of selection of
candidates for appointments".
These religious entities
are of and for the Hindus and therefore, must be run by the Hindus. The
PSC, established by a secular administration, by its very mandate cannot
work for the needs of the Hindu shrines. In these shrines the staff must
believe in the faith and actively support its aims. The recruitment by PSC,
which is neither trained nor equipped for staffing the religious
institutions, defeats the very religious neutrality of the secular
administration. How would Muslims and Christians react to such a proposal
for staffing their religious institutions? Would the Vatican have their
staff appointed by an Italian PSC?
***C)
In addition to the above, the
Principal Secretary of Devaswoms will be the special commissioner for both
the boards. The ordinance seeks to set up audit committees to oversee the
functioning of temples. The audit committees are required to submit
quarterly reports to the Government.
These stipulations make
it abundantly clear that Hinduism in Kerala is being treated as a Govt.
domain - therefore, “Govt. controlled and run religion” and the Boards and
the temples will become a part of politicized Govt. operation.
Furthermore, the audit committees are not required to reports to public
for transparency and scrutiny but only to Govt. which already controls and
mismanages these shrines. To establish the bona fides of the Govt. it
would be desirable if in the first place a white paper is issued on the
operation of the Boards for review of their past performance.
Govt.
Control of temples violates the Laws of the Land:
**1) In general, the
Govt. is charged with the responsibility of upholding the law but in the
present case the state has seriously violated the constitution : a) by
denying Hindus their fundamental 'Religious Rights’ guaranteed under
Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution (which guarantee to public
the establishment and maintenance of religious institutions; to own and
acquire movable and immovable property; and to administer such property in
accordance with law); and, b) by gross misuse and abuse of state powers
under Concurrent List (Article 246 (2) , Seventh Schedule) on religious
institutions by unwarranted acquisition of temples and squarely
discriminating against Hindu religious institutions, leaving Christian,
Islamic and institutions of other religious formations free from Govt.
interference.
**2)
Anticipating possible dishonorable designs of trouble makers and anti-
national elements in various administrations the Indian Parliament through
an Act in 1991 specifically legislated that –“the status of religious
places, as on August 15, 1947 shall be retained". A faithful
implementation of these laws will require removal of the proposed
unconstitutional govt. control upon Hindu temples in Kerala
**3) It
should be noted that : a) The Karnataka High Court has struck down the
Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1997
terming it unconstitutional, 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 additionally
b) the
Allahabad High Court has directed the Central and UP authorities to
prepare a scheme for constituting a Board for Hindu religious
organizations on the pattern of the UP Muslim Waqf Board. Both these vital
verdicts corroborate the argument that the Govt. must not meddle in
temples and endowments.
**4) In a
landmark judgment with far reaching implications, the Supreme Court has
recently ruled that any law placed under the Constitution's Ninth Schedule
after April 24, 1973, providing immunity from legal challenges are subject
to scrutiny of courts if they violated fundamental rights. This would be
applicable to the Ordinance in question and regulations framed thereunder.
Our contention
encompasses the legal and philosophical commitment of the secular Indian
State
- that the management and
administration of the religious institutions, their estates and places of
worship, must reside in the hands of the representative bodies of the
believers. 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.
The Waqf Board of Muslims and the management of Christian
churches and 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!
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 resources on flimsy grounds of
mismanagement and thereby bringing the progress and propagation of
Hinduism to a grinding halt.
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 minority status, but on the other
hand the Kerala authorities are crusading to stealthily destroy the self-
supporting foundations and structures of Hindu places of worship by
putting them under state control. 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.
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.
The Govt.
proposal for Reconstituting the Boards without community management is
deeply flawed, undemocratic and an affront to the entire Hindu Samaj:
As proven by the questionable functioning of the officially appointed
Devaswom Board in Kerala, Govt. take over of shrines and their assets
on flimsy grounds of mismanagement and denial of any role to Hindu
community and religious leaders is a brazen violation of Hindus rights.
This is also deeply flawed for it violates the secular Indian
Constitution. With an efficient and transparent management as the goal,
the Board must be reconstituted by the Hindu community as discussed
below. Some suggestions by government on formation of the Board, including
audit, standing committees and reference to High Court for any
irregularities could be included in the community Board constitution. If
Hindus could prove worthy of holding successfully highest Govt. positions,
executive positions in industry and other fields there is no reason to bar
them from running and managing their own religious institutions.
We firmly
believe that there is an urgent need to establish a representative yet
autonomous Hindu Board enjoying jurisdiction over temple government and
management. Therefore, we propose
that the representatives of Hindu community, shrines, temples and legal
experts and religious leaders from Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, etc. be
motivated to convene an assembly to take charge of clearly defining the
new legal framework for the community governance of temples and other
religious places. Such an approach among other things could make the
representative Board completely autonomous and transparent and thereby
responsible and accountable for the entire administration. After all, such
practice is already in vogue and permissible in the case of other
religions. There is no reason why Hindus should be deprived of this right.
In the
interim period it would be highly desirable that the Hindu religious
leaders, temple and community representatives be invited to nominate a
Committee to oversee the current management till an autonomous Board is
constituted for taking over the charge.
These steps
towards reforming the Boards should help provide a clean, transparent and
effective management on the one hand and religious autonomy and Govt. non-
involvement on the other. They will also culminate in restoring the
constitutionally mandated relationship between religion and state.
In no other
country in the world, of course unless the regime is despotic,
dictatorial, autocratic, colonial, imperialist, inhuman and irreligious, a
Govt. would launch an unprecedented assault on the founding and functional
pillars of the national majority's religious heritage as is being done in
Kerala.
Violation of majority's freedom in the arena of managing
its places of religious worship and intrusion and imposition of
governmental dictates, will justify the charge against the state of being
anti- Hindu and anti-national for shackling and debilitating Hinduism - a
faith that is the single most important unifying factor in India's body
politic.
Hon'ble
Governor Bhatia:
May we
request that you exercise your leadership for strongly advising the
defaulting state Govt. on its improprieties in this regard and have the
flawed Devaswom ordinance annulled.
Further, in
order to abide by the constitutional and legal provisions, the Kerala
Govt. must take steps to denationalize and liquidate its control upon
temples and restore their jurisdiction to the Hindu community. Such steps
would be legal, pragmatic, non controversial and will be in keeping with
the high ideals of secularism and democracy.
Here are some of the
measures that could be taken by the state during the transitional period
to safeguard the Hindu infrastructure while denationalization is underway:
a) Declare
a time table for ending Govt. control of Temples and for transferring
their jurisdiction in its entirety to an Autonomous Hindu board;
b) Make the endowments department transparent and open to public scrutiny
with immediate effect;
c) freeze all plans and actions in the domain of temples except for their
routine maintenance, pujaris salaries, temple rituals, etc. ;
d) End unconstitutional taxation of temples and diversion of their
revenues ; and
e) Set up a Hindu Council, nominated by Hindu organizations like Dharma
Sansad and Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha to prevent anti- Hindu management
and assure oversight, transparency and constructive guidance of endowment
department and Devaswom Boards till denationalization is realized.
Sir, such
bold actions by you will effectively end the flagrant violation of
"fundamental human rights and freedom of religion” for Hindus in the
state. As already stated the nationalization of temples has been imposed
on flimsy pretexts of mismanagement, only to put them under the control
and authority of irreligious, un-committed and less than honest
administrations. Such Govt. control of temples is being used in numerous
ways as the central instrument of attack on Hinduism.
Hon'ble
Governor Bhatia, it is our hope and earnest request , that you and your
government will take expeditious measures as indicated above for
defusing a potential ticking bomb that is waiting to explode due to
trampling upon the religious sentiments and rights of India’s majority
community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
February
18, 2007
Attachment A
1)
Court directs committee to probe Kerala temple body graft
India enews
From correspondents in
Kerala, India, 04:31 PM IST
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
A division bench of the Kerala High Court Tuesday appointed a three-member
high level team to probe corruption charges against the Travancore
Devaswom Board (TDB) that runs many temples in the state, including the
famous Sabarimala shrine.
The bench comprising Chief Justice V.K. Bali appointed a committee led by
former Supreme Court judge K.S. Paripoornan, former Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) director D.R. Karthikeyan and former judge Tulasidas
and asked them to submit a report in six months.
The bench gave the verdict in response to a series of petitions alleging
large scale corruption in appointments and purchases by the Devaswom board
in the past three years.
The TDB manages and runs temples in the southern districts of Kerala,
including the money-spinning Sabarimala temple which is expected to net
revenue of more than Rs.1 billion in the ongoing festival season that
closes Jan 20.
The previous Congress-led United Democratic Front appointed the present
three-member TDB board after it assumed power in 2001.
http://www.indiaenews.com/religion/20070102/34413.htm
2) Kerala HC : committee
to probe Govt. Appointed Temple body graft
Gulf-times.com, January 3,
2007
KOCHI: The Kerala High
Court yesterday set up a three-member committee to probe corruption
charges against a board that runs many temples in the state.
The committee led by
former Supreme Court judge K S Paripoornan with former Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) director D R Karthikeyan and former judge Tulasidas as
members has been asked to submit a report on the case against the
Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) within six months.
The TDB manages and runs
temples in the southern districts of Kerala, including the money-spinning
Sabarimala temple which is expected to net revenue of more than Rs1bn in
the ongoing festival season that closes on January 20.
The autonomous temple
authority also runs a number of schools, colleges and cultural
institutions.
The TDB has been accused of misappropriating money donated by devotees,
corruption in purchases and taking bribe while recruiting staff. The
state's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had earlier submitted a
report to the government on the irregularities in the TDB deals.
The court said it was the
court's duty to ensure that the money donated by the devotees is not
misused or wasted and hence the order.
The previous Congress-led
United Democratic Front appointed the present board with G Raman Nair as
its president and M B Srikumar and Punalur Madhu as members.
While welcoming the court
verdict, Temple Affairs Minister G Sudhakaran said the government would
soon issue an ordinance making amendments in the laws governing the three
temple administration boards in the state.
Meanwhile, the issue has
widened the rift between two powerful organisations representing the
dominant Nair and Ezhava communities.
The Nair Service Society
and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam had earlier decided
to join hands to strengthen Hindu unity.
NSS general secretary P K
Narayana Panicker sought the resignation of all the TDB members in the
light of the probe while SNDP general secretary Vellappally Nateshan
alleged that Panicker had secured employment for 16 of his relatives in
the Guruvayur Devaswam Board.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?
cu_no=2&item_no=125382&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22
Attachment
B
Kerala: Devaswom ordinance
promulgated
Monday, February 05,2007
http://southasianmedia.net/cnn.cfm?id=360916&category=Religion&Country=INDIA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Governor R.L. Bhatia has
signed the ordinance seeking to amend the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom
Board Acts, leading to the dissolution of the two bodies. The dissolution
has been achieved through an amendment that reduces the term of office of
members to two years.
The number of members on
each Board has been raised to three, of which one will be from the
Scheduled Caste community and another a woman. The age limit for male
members has been fixed at 50, while it will be 60 for women. The ordinance
seeks to set up standing committees on finance, works development and
devotional service for the two Boards.
The Principal Secretary for Devaswoms will be the special commissioner for
both boards. The ordinance seeks to set up audit committees to oversee the
functioning of temples. The audit committees are required to submit
quarterly reports to the Government.
The Cabinet had recently cleared the provisions in the ordinance before
recommending it to the Governor. The ordinance has been promulgated
following allegations of corruption, and it will, in effect, ensure firm
Governmental control on the functioning of these two bodies. The Board was
last reconstituted in 2004, with the induction of two members.
The ordinance has evoked mixed reactions, but derived an extra mileage
from the strong support the Government's action got from the Nair Service
Society and the conditional support from the Sree Narayana Dharma
Paripalana Yogam. The Yogam appeared to be cautious in its reaction, but
welcomed the ordinance if it were to ensure reservation norms.
Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, in an
interview to a television channel, however, said the Government should
have consulted Hindu organisations.
Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said the United Democratic Front
welcomed the ordinance if it were promulgated in the spirit of the aborted
ordinance the Government run by it previously had planned to promulgate.
Another notable opponent of the Devaswom ordinance is the Nationalist
Congress Party leader K. Karunakaran, who termed the move hasty and
unjustified.
Attachment C
Recruitment to Devaswoms
by PSC
Special
Correspondent
The Hindu Feb. 6, 2007
http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/06/stories/2007020608830400.htm
Devaswoms have to ensure conduct of rites
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore-Cochin Hindu
Religious Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007, promulgated by the
Governor on Sunday, envisages handing over the entire responsibilities
connected with the recruitment of staff for the Devaswoms to the Kerala
Public Service Commission (PSC).
The ordinance, published
in the gazette on Monday, says: "All appointments of officers and
employees in the administrative service of the [Devaswom] Board, for which
direct recruitment is resorted to, shall be made from a select list of
candidates furnished by the PSC... "
The ordinance further says
that "preferably, a Hindu member of the PSC may discharge the function of
conducting interview in the process of selection of candidates for
appointments."
The ordinance gives the
Government the power to have any allegation of irregularity, corruption,
mal-administration or misappropriation of funds by the Devaswom Board
inquired into by a commission appointed through a gazette notification.
The commission has to be a sitting judge or retired judge of the High
Court, who is a Hindu.
The ordinance stipulates
the constitution of three standing committees of the Board: one for
finance and resource mobilisation, another for works, development and
environment, and the still another for establishment and devotional
services. The Board itself has to constitute these standing committees,
each consisting of two of its members, one of whom will function as
chairman of the committee concerned.
The decision of the
standing committee has to be unanimous, as far as possible. In the event
of any difference of opinion on any subject, the matter has to be referred
to the Board for its decision. The ordinance adds a new clause to the
original Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act clearly
specifying the duties of the Devaswom Board. The duties cover not only
matters relating to the administration of the financial and development
affairs of the temples but also those connected with traditional rites
being performed in the temples. The Board has to ensure that these are
done efficiently.
The ordinance stipulates
the number of members in each Devaswom Board as three, all of them Hindus.
One of them has to be a woman and one a person belonging to Scheduled
Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
The woman member and the
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe member are to be nominated by the
Ministers belonging to the Hindu community. The other member has to be
elected by the Hindu members of the Assembly.
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