BJP state spokesman V V Rajesh said that a probe by a special investigation team under the supervision of the Supreme Court should be ordered into the loss of valuables from the temple vaults of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here.
Rajesh told a news conference here on Wednesday that any attempt by the government or any other force to take away the treasure from the temple would be resisted at any cost.
He said as there have been allegations that gold and precious stones were stolen and smuggled out to Thanjavur, the investigation agency should have the powers to conduct the probe outside the state.
Referring to the statement by CPM leader and former Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac that opinion of the Hindu MLAs in the Assembly should be taken into consideration for arriving at a decision on the management of the temple treasure, Rajesh asked which CPM MLA or leader in that case can claim the moral right to say that he or she was standing for protecting the interests of the Hindus.
“Do they (CPM MLAs) have the moral right to say that he or she would be standing for the protection of Hindu interests?. Will they ask the Government to take over all the properties and treasures of churches and mosques treating them as public property. The temple treasure is not public property but the treasure of the temple which belongs to the Hindu community alone,” he said.
He said a party like CPM which had convened a special party plenum and passed a resolution asking the party cadre not to perform ‘Ganapathy homam’, conduct ‘vasthubali’ and other Hindu rituals had no right to interfere in the matters concerning the Hindus. Do they have any right to claim that they are also serving the interests of Hindu communities? he asked.
Rajesh said there were already over 1700 temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board and none of these temples could be termed corruption free. Temples like Sarkkara had several acres of land in the past. After the government’s takeover, most of its land was alienated.
But over 14000 private temples and temples owned by Trusts like Attukal and Chakkulathukavu were functioning without giving any room for complaints.
Many such temples are implementing several developmental projects.
Several temples are providing medical care and educational facilities to the people.
He said temples are not safe or secure under the Devaswom Boards.
Rajesh said an acid attack on the temple employee at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple had occurred during the time of the LDF government in 2007. Both the LDF Government and the UDF Government which came to power had done nothing to probe this acid attack case except registering a criminal case.