UPA'smove to acquire Hindu temples
VHP threatens countrywide agitation
By Pramod Kumar
Strongly reacting against the UPA government'smove to ?acquire Hindu temples? and ?impose a tax on Hindu charitable institutions?, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has threatened to launch a countrywide agitation against the move. The VHP leaders have warned the government not to further test the tolerance of the Hindus. This issue would be prominently discussed at the VHP'sKendriya Margdarshak Mandal meeting scheduled to be held in Haridwar from June 14 to 15, wherein the saints would decide on the further course of action.
?Newspapers have reported that the UPA government has sent a proposal to the standing committee that all Hindu temples of the country should be acquired and a tax imposed on the monetory offerings in the temples besides imposing a tax on charitable institutions. This is a direct onslaught on Hindu Dharma?, said Shri Ashok Singhal while talking to Organiser in New Delhi on May 17.
Shri Singhal alleged that the Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi had been working according to Pope John Paul'splan, who during his visit to India had proposed to convert India into a Christian-dominated country in the 21st century. ?Today, over 34,000 Hindu temples of Andhra Pradesh are under the control of the state government and a law has already been enacted to auction their lakhs of acres of land. Priests working in such temples do not get a reasonable salary. Despite sufficient money offered in such temples, enough material for conducting daily prayers is not provided to priests. Thousands of temples are on the verge of destruction. Over Rs 900 crore are offered in the Tirupati temple annually. But due to the conspiracy hatched by politicians and bureaucrats, not a single penny from this money is used to protect Hindus from conversion. Not only this, the government now wants to snatch this money away by imposition of tax,? he said. The VHP leader pointed out that over 43,000 temples in Kerala were on the verge of ruin. He alleged that more than half the money received by the Karnataka government after acquiring Hindu temples was being used for supporting madarsas.
Shri Singhal said the temples of Jagannath Puri, Tirupati, Kashi Vishwanath, Vaishno Devi, Guruvayoor, Chamunda Devi, Dattapeeth, Kali Mandir of Patiala, Amarnath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, etc. have already been acquired by the government. ?All sects, akharas and saints of the country are greatly disturbed over this move of the UPA government and have been forced to take up a rigid stand,? he said.
