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Letter to
Shri Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh
Subject:
Thanks for handing back “functioning” of Hindu religious shrines to their
managements:
Hon'ble Chief Minister Dhumal,
We would like to thank you for your very progressive,
democratic and constitutionally sound decision to hand back the functioning of
Hindu religious shrines to their managements (attachment A). In today’s
political environment keeping election promises and respecting the wishes of the
people has become a novelty. We salute you for the prompt action taken in this
regard. The Congress Govt. had illegally taken over the management of temples
under the lame excuse to ensure their smooth running. Such a questionable action
seriously violated the basic principle of secularism i.e., separation of
religion and state and the Constitution of India.
The official action of taking control of only Hindu temples
while leaving the shrines and institutions of other religions autonomous and
untouched exposed the Govt. bias against the Hindu community. We congratulate
you for your courage and boldness for rejecting the congress regimes
discriminative yet illegal policy and restoring the autonomy of the Hindu
religious shrines and institutions as well. The Congress Govt., in total
violation of the provisions of the Indian constitution, barring the state from
controlling, discriminating, managing, reforming or patronizing religions was
completely and fully out side the parameters of law and established traditions
in following such an anti-Hindu policy.
Two major High Courts of India (Karnataka & UP) in
their landmark decisions have held 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. (Attachments B
& C). The Karnataka HC held that Govt. had seriously 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. The Allahabad High Court asked
the Centre and Uttar Pradesh to prepare a scheme for constitution of a Board for
Hindu religious organizations on the pattern of the UP Muslim Waqf Board.
The Indian Parliament had also adopted a law in 1991
specifically requiring that –“the status of religious places, as on August
15, 1947 shall be retained". A faithful implementation of these laws should
also require removal of unconstitutional govt. control upon Hindu temples and
their estates and the restoration of the community based management.
Hon'ble Chief Minister Dhumal, we highly
appreciate your correct and judicious approach in honoring the autonomy of
Hindu shrines. We as well as the entire NRI Hindu community send our profound
thanks to you for restoring the freedom of Hindu shrines.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
January 11, 2008
Attachment A
Dhumal lifts ban on RSS shakhas at public
places
**In another decision, Dhumal announced that the
functioning of the religious shrines would be handed back to their managements,
as per the BJP’s poll promise. The Congress Government had taken over the
management of some temples to ensure their smooth functioning.
ASHWANI SHARMA
The Indian Express
Posted online: Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST
Shimla, January 5
Within a week of coming
to power in the state, the BJP Government led by Chief Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal has lifted the ban on holding RSS shakhas at public places. Moreover,
government servants will also be free to participate in the shakhas and other
activities of the Sangh Parivar now. Earlier, the Virbhadra Singh Government had
banned shakhas in public spaces and also barred government staff from attending
such functions.
Dhumal announced the decision at a public meeting in his
native district of Hamirpur last night.“We had opposed the Congress decision and
staged protests both inside and outside the Assembly, demanding freedom to hold
RSS shakhas. But, Virbhadra Singh did not budge,” recalled state BJP president
Jairam Thakur.
**In another decision, Dhumal announced that the functioning
of the religious shrines would be handed back to their managements, as per the
BJP’s poll promise. The Congress Government had taken over the management of
some temples to ensure their smooth functioning.
Meanwhile, Dhumal is scheduled to go to Delhi tomorrow to
meet the party high command and decide on the list of ministers for his Cabinet.
Their swearing-in is set to take place in Shimla on January 9.
According to sources, the Chief Minister is expected to
accommodate most of his party seniors to give fair representation to all regions
and castes. Sources said senior leader Shanta Kumar has also been taken into
confidence about the choice of ministers and their portfolios. Though the total
size of the ministry is12,
Dhumal is understood to have proposed a small-sized
ministry, leaving scope for future expansion.Some names doing the rounds include
J P Nadda, Krishan Kapoor, Ramesh Dhwala, Roop Singh Thakur, Mohinder Singh,
Hari Narain Saini. The Speaker is expected to be a toss between Gulab Singh
Thakur, who was the Speaker during the previous BJP-HVC coalition government,
and Suresh Bhardwaj, former state BJP president.
Attachment B
HC strikes
down Act on temples
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep92006/index20595200698.asp
DH News
Service Bangalore:
Deccan Herald, September 09, 2006
A
division bench comprising Justice R Gururajan and Justice C R Kumaraswamy struck
down the Act 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. The order will come into effect prospectively.
The Karnataka High Court on Friday struck down the Karnataka Hindu Religious
Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1997 as unconstitutional pointing out
that its provisions amounted to “dividing Hindu religion.”
A division bench comprising Justice R Gururajan and Justice C R Kumaraswamy
struck down the Act 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. The order will come into effect
prospectively.
The bench also side aside an order of a single judge who had upheld the
constitutional validity of the Act last year. Several trustees of the temples
and archaks had challenged the order contending that the Act divided the Hindu
community, besides denying the right guaranteed under the constitution to
establish and manage religious institution.
The court, in its 176-page order, observed that keeping out Maths and
denomination temples from the purview of the Act amounted to violation of
Article 14 of the Constitution. “Religious denomination does not in any way
stand on a different footing than other temples,” the court observed and said
the state has to justify its action of exclusion of Maths in the Act, which were
earlier included in local Acts.
The court said the Act defined Hindu as not to include Sikh, Jain and Buddist
contrary to constitutional provisions. “Hindu religion is already divided by way
of castes and sub-castes. Now the state wants to divide Hindus by excluding
Jains, Sikhs in terms of a statute”, the court observed. Regarding the provision
in the Act, which makes it mandatory for a notified temple to contribute 5 per
cent of its total annual income to the “Common Pool Fund”, regulated by the
Endowment Commissioner, the court said there cannot be compulsion only for Hindu
temples to provide assistance to institutions of other religions. “Devotees of
Hindu temples provide money for temple purposes and it cannot be spent for
non-Hindu causes,” the court observed.
The court said the government could have a
commission constituted for temple affairs and involve Hindu religious leaders,
social reformers and other experts and thereafter proceed to pass a uniform law.
The government can also think of having different regulatory measures for
temples, maths and Jain institutions depending on their religious beliefs within
the provision of the Constitution. “We deem it proper to observe that the
government would be doing a great service to Hindu society by eliminating all
evil corrupt practices, if at all, prevailing in Hindu institutions. This would
go a long way in Hindu temple reformation,” the court observed.
Attachment C
Make Waqf-like board for Hindu religious bodies: HC
Press Trust of India
Allahabad, June 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1714562,000900010004.htm
Hindustan Times
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh to
prepare a scheme for constitution of a Board for Hindu religious organisations
on the pattern of the UP Muslim Waqf Board.
Passing the order, Justice SN Srivastava said the Board so constituted shall be
an autonomous body and it will register all such religious and charitable
establishments and endowments according to the norms represented by mutts,
monasteries, temples and religious and charitable trusts or societies, as the
case may be, through their heads.
The Centre as well as the state government may also frame schemes for providing
minimum wages and other welfare measures for those working in temples, the court
added.
The judgement was passed on a writ petition filed by Shree Satya Narain Tulsi
Manas Mandir at Varanasi.
The court said that the schemes so framed may be placed before the court on
September nine.
The court was of the view that though provisions of Minimum Wages Act were not
applicable to temple as it is not an industry, fair wages cannot be denied
merely on the ground that the establishment or institution is of a religious or
charitable nature or that persons who are engaged are 'sevadars' or employees at
the pleasure of management.
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