The on-going loot of Hindu temples

WHILE Congress leaders are hell-bent on damning the RSS - it is an old

game that has long ceased to have any meaning - they seem to be
unaware (or deliberately wish to ignore) that as late as on July 4,
2010 the right hand of a 53-year old Christian college professor (one
TJ Joseph) was chopped off by Muslim fundamentalists, at Thodapurzha,
Iduki district, in Kerala, for alleged blasphemy.

Digvijay Singh probably doesn't want to be reminded of this. Nor, one
suspects, would he be anxious to know that police found out that this
heinous crime was committed as part of the implementation of the
verdict of a Shariah court run by fundamentalist elements in Kerala.
The police apparently discovered that 14 such parallel courts have
been running in Kerala for the last twenty years and Kerala State Home
Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has been reported as confessing that
since 1993, twenty two murders have taken place under the direction of
the Shariah courts in Kerala (vide, Mangalam Daily Kottayam, July 21,
2010).

Digvijay Singh can check this bit of information as could Rahul Gandhi.

At the same time, they could both check out on the performance of The
Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act of 1951 which allows
State Governments and politicians to take over thousands of Hindu
Temples and maintain complete control over them and their properties.
It is claimed that they can sell the temple assets and properties and
use the money in any way they choose.

A charge has been made not by any Temple authority, but by a foreign
writer, Stephen Knapp in a book (Crimes Against India and the Need to
Protect Ancient Vedic Tradition) published in the United States that
makes shocking reading. Hundreds of temples in centuries past have
been built in India by devout rulers and the donations given to them
by devotees have been used for the benefit of the people. If,
presently, money collected has ever been misused (and that word needs
to be defined), it is for the devotees to protest and not for any
government to interfere. This letter is what has been happening
currently under an intrusive law. It would seem, for instance, that
under a Temple Empowerment Act, about 43,000 temples in Andhra Pradesh
have come under government control and only 18 per cent of the revenue
of these temples have been returned for temple purposes, the remaining
82 per cent being used for purposes unstated.

Apparently even the world famous Tirumala Tirupati Temple has not been
spared. According to Knapp, the temple collects over Rs 3,100 crores
every year "and the State Government has not denied the charge that as
much as 85 per cent of this is transferred to the State Exchequer,
much of which goes to causes that are not connected with the Hindu
community". Was it for that reason that devotees make their offering
to the temples? Another charge that has been made is that the Andhra
Government has also allowed the demolition of at least ten temples for
the construction of a golf course. "Imagine the outcry" writes Knapp,
"if ten mosques had been demolished". It would seem that in
Karanataka, Rs. 79 crores were collected from about two lakh temples
and from that, temples received Rs seven crores for their maintenance,
Muslim madrassahs and Haj subsidy were given Rs 59 crore and churches
about Rs 13 crore. Very generous of the government. Because of this,
Knapp writes, "25 per cent of the two lakh temples or about 50,000
temples in Karnataka will be closed down for lack of resources", and
he adds: "The only way the government can continue to do this is
because people have not stood up enough to stop it". Knapp then refers
to Kerala where, he says, "funds from the Guruvayur Temple are
diverted to other government projects denying improvement to 45 Hindu
temples". Land belonging to the Ayyappa Temple, apparently has been
grabbed and "Church encroaches are occupying huge areas of forest
land, running into thousands of acres, near Sabarimala".

A charge is made that the Communist state government of Kerala.. wants
to pass an Ordinance to disband the Travancore & Cochin Autonomous
Devaswom Boards (TCDBs) and take over their limited independent
authority of 1,800 Hindu temples. If what the author says is true,
even the Maharashtra Government wants to take over some 450,000
temples in the state which would "supply a huge amount of revenue to
correct the state's bankrupt conditions.." And to top it all, Knapp
says that in Orissa, the state government intends to sell over 70,000
acres of endowment lands from the Jagannath Temple, the proceeds of
which would solve a huge financial crunch brought about by its own
mismanagement of temple assets. Says Knapp: "Why such occurrences are
so often not known is that the Indian media, especially the English
television and press, are often anti-Hindu in their approach, and thus
not inclined to give much coverage, and certainly no sympathy, for
anything that may affect the Hindu community. Therefore, such
government action that play against the Hindu community go on without
much or any attention attracted to them".

Knapp obviously is on record. If the facts produced by him are
incorrect, it is up to the government to say so. It is quite possible
that some individuals might have set up temples to deal with lucrative
earnings. But that, surely, is none of the government's business?
Instead of taking over all earnings, the government surely can appoint
local committees to look into temple affairs so that the amount
discovered is fairly used for the public good? Says Knapp: "Nowhere in
the free, democratic world are the religious institutions managed,
maligned and controlled by the government, thus denying the religious
freedom of the people of the country. But it is happening in India.
Government officials have taken control of Hindu temples because they
smell money in them, they recognise the indifference of Hindus, they
are aware of the unlimited patience and tolerance of Hindus, they also
know that it is not in the blood of Hindus to go to the streets to
demonstrate, destroy property, threaten, loot, harm and kill.

(09/02/2011 By MV Kamath)

From: - Radha krishna

At Trivandrum there is a temple called Padmanabha swami Temple. Now
Govt. is going to take over the ownership of it. Did Hindu Janajagruti
samiti is aware of this and took any action to keep the temple in the
hands of HINDU's
or with a trust formed under Maharaja of Travancore, the present owner
of the temple. What action you have taken to preserve HINDU temples
and unity of HINDUS. HINDUS lack leadership to raise issues like this.
Please note that no government shows courage to take any
Churches and Mosques. No churches and Mosques are under government
custody.Why government is showing such courage and easiness to take
HINDU Temples. It is very clear that here is no HINDU and that is the
reason. Then what you are doing here for HINDUS
Radhakrishnan C. L.

Many Hindus are sitting and watching the demise of their culture. They
need to express their views loud and clear.." Knapp obviously does not
know that should they do so, they would be damned as communalists. But
it is time some one asked the Government to lay down all the facts on
the table so that the public would know what is happening behind its
back. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not secularism. And temples are not
for looting, under any name. One thought that Mohammad of Ghazni has
long been dead.

Hindus who represent one of the oldest surviving civilizations in
world never destroyed any other civilization, conquered any other
country, colonized any other nation and preached non-violence,
tolerance, freedom and spirituality. Yet, we were oppressed, our
country was invaded, our wealth looted and Hindus were forcefully
converted and slaughtered by Mullahs and Christians. Why? we lived
upon the assumption that dogmatic ideologies promoted in the name of
religion and its sectarian followers will live cordially with us.We
have ignored their hatred, destructive tendencies, deceptive
practices, and cunning strategies. In the name of religion, they are
promoting hatred, destruction and their political agenda.Their social
deconstruction plan, it would seem at first blush, ideals of
religions. They sprinkle their political agenda with few
ecclesiastical terms, but their goal is oppression of Hindus, coercive
religious conversion and domination. These fundamentalists are not
interested in our perennial philosophy. They are promoting their
counter culture in the name of religion.These dismal despots are
equipped with techniques of manipulation with well-developed
diversionary tactics to reduce our vigilance. We find ourselves unable
to to see anything at the end of the road until everything is gone. We
can not prevail tomorrow without courageous action today. We Hindus
need to meet the challenges of the future-with strength and
conviction. If we can avoid our cowardice and accommodation, we will
have a better future.

From: babusushilan
Hindus are peaceful, tolerant, free spirited, righteous
and boyed by a personal spiritual connection to eternal Being
(Brahman) and respect all living and non living being. Our conviction
for universalism, commitment for Dharma, and peaceful coexistence have
changed the world in so many positive ways. Tragically, today Hindus
are under seige. We are under attack. Hindus are murdered in calously
in cold blood in Kashmir, Assam, Kerala and all over India. Our
tradition, our heritage, the oldest, continuously reigning spiritual
culture on earth is driven out of Kashmir, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu and soon it will extinct in Kerala,
the land of Snakracharya.

Our nation, the land of Rishis, has been invaded,
plundered, millions were murdered, and forcefully converted. Our
country was invaed, ruled by injustice, colonialism, Islamic
fanaticism, and pseudo secularism. Even today, anti national Congress,
Communists and the Jihadis masquerading as secularists call themselves
as custodian of our constitution seem determined to beat Hindus into
submission. The blackmail of Hindus, subjugation and extrotion
continues unabted. The onholy trinity of pseduo secularists,
communists and Jihadis are effectively exploting our freedom, openness
and mindless universalism. Our passivity, denial, indifference, apathy
and silence and our hopelessly naive assessment of the threat from the
unholy alliance is partially responsible for the subjugation and
oppression of Hindus.

Choices we make determine sour future. We have surrendered our
collective will power and moral consciousness to the foolish choices
few Congress leaders made prior to our independence. We are paying a
heavy price for their choice and our decisions to follow their foolish
decisions.

Hindu Unity is possible only when we declare Bharat as a
Hindu Rashtra. Jewish people are murdered, humiliated, massacred,
forcefully converted, and were wandering without a nation of their own
for centuries. . Once a Jewish state was established Jewish Unity was
possible, visible and they are willing to fight for their unity, their
nation and culture. Once Bharat is declared as a Hindu Rashtra Hindu
unity will be realized. Since independence, instead of uniting our
nation, laws were enacted to divide the country, and encouraged people
to fight each other based on privileges and reservation based on caste
system. Working for a Hindu Rashtra is not a waste of our time, but a
needed thought for securing our country, preserving our culture,
promoting our spiritual thought system and ensuring freedom for our
children and children yet to be born.

Corruption is nothing new, but the magnitude of it as seen since Man
Mohan / Sonia came to power has been highly disturbing. What is new is
the ineptitude, the incompetence and the lack of supervision which
seems to prevail since Man Mohan came to power--- the like of which
one had not seen under any other Prime Minister of Bhaarat since we
became independent in 1947.