Amidst the ongoing stir regarding the Ram Temple offering theft case, a new controversy has arisen regarding the proposed appointment of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti has strongly opposed the government’s efforts to increase the role of bureaucracy in temple administration, saying that monasteries and temples should be run according to the devotees and religious traditions, and not through government officials.
The Sant Committee said in clear words that if mosques are managed by the Waqf Board, Gurudwaras are managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and churches are managed by the Church Council, then why does the government want to interfere only in the operation of Hindu temples? The saints called it a question of autonomy of religious institutions and also raised the demand from the government to end the alleged government control over more than four lakh Hindu temples.
should not be brought under government control
This statement has come at a time when questions are being raised on the functioning of the Trust after the investigation into the irregularities in offerings in the Ram temple and there is a strong discussion about appointing a CEO to make the temple administration more transparent. All India Saint Committee has lodged a protest. Sant Samiti says that in the name of any administrative reform, the independent religious system of temples should not be brought under government control.
There will be widespread opposition
National Secretary of All India Sant Samiti, Swami Jitendranand Saraswati said that there are different arrangements for running the institutions of different religions in the country. He said, ‘The mosque is run by the Waqf Board, the Gurudwara is run by the SGPC and the churches are run by the Church Council. Then why does the government want to run only Hindu temples? He said that if the government moves towards increasing administrative control, there will be widespread opposition to it.
Temples cannot be captured
Swami Jitendranand said that financial or administrative disputes have come up in many famous temples of the country in the past, various types of disputes had come up from time to time in Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple and Shani Shingnapur Temple. He said that if there are irregularities in any temple then action should be taken against the culprits, but it would not be appropriate to put the entire temple administration under government control.
Operation in the hands of saint tradition and devotees
At the same time, at the 88th birth anniversary celebration of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and Maniram Chhawni Peethadhishwar Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the saints gathered from across the country passed a resolution by voice vote opposing the role of bureaucracy in the operation of the Ram temple. The saints said that the management of the temple should remain in the hands of the saint tradition and devotees and not of bureaucrats. Acharya Mithilesh Nandini Sharan, the main speaker from the pulpit of Ramkatha, first raised this issue.
Appeal to PM Modi and CM Yogi
He asked, ‘Will Ram temple be built in Ayodhya and it will be run by bureaucrats?’ He said that Ayodhya belongs to saints, devotees and followers of Sanatan Dharma, hence the arrangements of Ram temple should also be according to the tradition of saints. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that if the trust is to be reorganized, then saints and trusted people from different traditions should be given place in it, but the temple should not be made a “colony of power”.
Keeping an eye on the meeting of July 11
According to sources, in the meeting of the Trust proposed on July 11, important decisions can be taken on major changes in the organizational structure, restructuring of the Trust, resignations of Champat Rai and Dr. Anil Mishra and administrative arrangements. This is the reason why Sant Samaj has made its objections public even before the meeting.
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