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| damaged Meenakshi temple, Madurai newindianexpress.com |
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| temple demolition, Coimbatore city, TN. vervetimes.com/ |
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| Coimbatore city, demolition of 7 Hindu temples. twitter.com |
Above image: Coimbatore city corporation Authorities in July, 2021 demolished 7 Temples in Tank bund, Muthannankulam after relocating about 300 Families from 14 Acre area by marking it as ''Encroached''. This was done as part of smart city project. One of the temples was more than 120 year old. Using earthmovers, and heavy machinery officials razed Amman Kovil, Bannari Amman Kovil, Angala Parameswari, Karupparayan Kovil, Muneeswaran Kovil and a few other temples, reports The Hindu. Reason : to develop new lake bund and HR & CE was a mute spectator. There was no referendum on the proposed demolition of the temples. "The increasing incidents of demolition of temples in the State in the name of encroachment, will lead to mistrust and hatred against the TN government," said the heads of four Mutts The TN Govt should intervene and stop demolition of Hindu temples. Local devotees were in rage...........
In December, 2022, the SC sought Tamil Nadu govt's response on a petition filed by the 'Indic Collective Trust, that made a serious allegation that HR&CE had taken over 38,000 temples illegally and asked the TN govt to recall EOs appointed at temples.
Tamil Nadu govt recruited executive officials close to the ruling party without nominating temple trustees. This move by the state governments would further result in abuse of temple revenues, properties and puja traditions inherent to the temples. A bench consisting of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha heard the case on December 13, 2022 and sought a response from the state government. The petition stated that while the Conditions for the Appointment of Executive Officers Rules, 2015 limit their duration to a maximum of five years, the EO recruited by the state authorities were nominated indefinitely with no conditions specified in their appointment orders. It means they are holding the posts illegally
The petitioner got the attention of the SC that the state had violated the Articles 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution of India by appointing Executive Officers in the temples of Tamil Nadu. It means EOs armed with powers are illegally controlling the temple management. against the wish of the devotees and in violation of Agama sastras. The petitioner mentioned numerous examples as to how the EOs, took arbitrary decisions related to countless unnecessary projects and building activities costing crores of rupees. The officials take a cut in such project works by way of "commission". At stake is the heritage aspect of historical temples where illegal constructions of mediocre buildings, shopping malls, AC rooms for the officials, etc were going on with impunity. ''Complete take over of the temples by EOs without any valid reason is in complete violation of the law,” the petition mentioned.
Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan, counsel for the petitioner, argued that the EOs diverted temple cash - hundial donations from devotees to meet their salaries and other non-religious uses. He also emphasized the fact that in the last 70 years HR & CE had never returned a single temple to the trustee or the community involved after taking over temple administration. It is roughly equal to retrieving a bundle of fresh sugarcane given to an hungry elephant.
Among the temples in TN, there are 36,627 temples, 57 temples and 17 temples that come under the management of the holy Mutts and Jaina Mutts respectively. It is reported that of them 88.22% are under the grip of the HR & CE Department and have an annual income of less than Rs. 10,000.
The petition asked that the State of Tamil Nadu to recognize all Executive Officers who are serving without legitimate appointment orders, who were nominated without valid reasons, or who were hired under Sections 43-A or 45 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, prior to the implementation of the Conditions for Appointment of Executive Officers Rules, 2015.
In the last decade or so many temples lost a big chunk of their landed properties due to HR & CE' s corrupt administration. If complaints are given to the local police station, no action will be taken by the police. In many cases complainants will be threatened by the temple officials and their punks.
In 2021 The Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR & CE) proudly announced that they retrieved temple properties worth more than Rs 1,543 crores from 424 encroachments on lands comprising 407 acres in the last 8 months according to TOI report dated December 7, 2021. HR & CE identified the retrieved properties using the latest technology - .differential global position system (DGPS) and onsite rover survey to trace the lost properties. The paradox is HR & CE never revealed the names of the encroachers or violators of law. Nor did they seek court's intervention to book the culprits. The reason why they avoided the identity of the violators was invariably the violators were local netas or relatives of higher ranking members of the ruling party.
In the last three months across Tamil Nadu are furious over the large scale abuse of temple lands, violation of traditional norms of the historic temples with respect to festivals, puja protocols and construction of shopping malls, Kalyana mandapams, etc. The money could have been spent to restore countless dilapidated temples across the state.
https://www.opindia.com/2022/12/38000-temples-tamil-nadu-taken-over-by-hr-ce-sc-seeks-response/
