Religious mafia operating in the name of God in Karnataka: Congress
Only four temples in the state -- Chamundeshwari temple of Mysuru, Yediyur Siddalingeshwara temple, Ghati Subramanya temple and Banashankari temple of Bengaluru -- are submitting audit reports every year.
FollowCriticising the Karnataka government’s move to free temples from its control, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has said such a move would give just about 2% of the population control over the temples, denying the rest its right.
“Temples are independent even now. If temples are controlled by the Government it means the last person in the social structure has the right over them. The Government’s move will give 2% of 5.5 crore Hindu population control over temples,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.
He further said, “The same priestly class forces that derailed the Sharana movement of Basavanna are now using politicians from lower classes in the BJP to take control of temples. This will push Kannadigas to religious slavery.” He warned that the priestly class will not seek autonomy of all temples, but only those that have huge income. “Temples without income will be left to others.”
There are 180,000 temples in Karnataka, among which 35,500 come under the Muzarai department. As per the records of the Muzarai department, there are 207 ‘A’ grade temples that get an annual income of more than RS 25 lakh, 139 ‘B’ grade temples that have an income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 24.99 lakh. These ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade temples are required to submit accounts annually, as mandated by the law.
Only four temples in the state -- Chamundeshwari temple of Mysuru, Yediyur Siddalingeshwara temple, Ghati Subramanya temple and Banashankari temple of Bengaluru -- are submitting audit reports every year.
Siddaramaiah said some BJP leaders are eyeing these temples. He said this anti-Hindu policy of the BJP has to be opposed since it is diluting over a 1,000-year struggle of people and is a step back in social movement.
Siddaramaiah said, “The evil eye of a certain class has fallen on the wealth of temples in the state. It is a religious mafia that runs the name of God. They have taken the property of 80% of Hindus who and given it taken the two-thirds percentiles.”
