KOZHIKODE: Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, a Sangh Parivar-affiliated organisation, has asked the Central government to bring in a common law that governs all the temples and charity organisations in the backdrop of the controversy over the gold robbery at Sabarimala temple that has become “insult to the Hindu community as a whole.”
Significantly, a resolution passed at the 43rd state conference of the organisation said the system should have the representation of all sections including women. The resolution said that there should be stipulations in the law to preserve the rituals and practices of the traditional tribal sections too.
“Temples and associated systems are the basis of Hindu dharma and culture. The allegations of corruption and flaws in temple administration have become a shame for the whole Hindu community. In these circumstances, the necessity for a comprehensive central law has become an imperative,” the resolution said.
It added that the news related to the gold robbery at Sabarimala is a cause of concern. An attempt has been made to rob the gold at the temple and to destroy the spiritual atmosphere at the temple. “Similar incidents have happened in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,” the resolution said.
It said that the successive central governments had not taken any action on the report of the committee headed by C P Ramaswamy Ayer that was constituted in 1960. The committee visited various temples in the country and collected information to prepare the report titled ‘Hindu Religious Endowment Commission Report 1960-62.’
The Vichara Kendram asked the government to institute a system based on the report that ensures free and transparent administration in temples. It also demanded that believers and women should have a place in the system and the rituals and customs of the traditional tribal communities should be protected. “An expert committee should be formed to decide on the traditional rituals in temples. Suggestions on developing spiritual tourism and to promote temple-based economy can also be a part of the new law,” the resolution said.
Vichara Kendram wants to start graduate and post-graduate courses that equip people to handle temple administration. “A system should be put in place to give training to the new generation in Tantric, Agama sciences and temple arts,” the resolution said, adding that there should be a system to take stock of the land under the temples and to publish it.
The resolution was moved by Vichara Kendram state committee member C K Sunil Kumar. Prajna Vahak national co-ordinator J Nandakumar inaugurated the delegates meeting.
BJP pushes for Central probe into gold case
Thiruvananthapuram: Sensing a major political opportunity ahead of the assembly polls, the state BJP has stepped up pressure for a Central agency probe into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple gold theft case, in a bid to put both the ruling LDF and the Opposition UDF on the defensive. Addressing a news conference here on Friday, former BJP state president K Surendran said while the LDF’s role in the episode was “well known”, the UDF leadership also had failed to clear the air over the meeting between accused Unnikrishnan Potti and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. He alleged that the meeting was facilitated by the party’s leaders in the state. The BJP leader demanded that UDF leaders Anto Antony and Adoor Prakash should explain who introduced Sonia to Potti and a Karnataka-based jeweller who was allegedly Potti’s accomplice in the offence.