Raipur: Days after it was reported in the media that Madhya Pradesh’s Ministry of Religious Trust & Endowments had written to the management committee of the Maa Sharda temple in the state’s Maihar tehsil in Satna district to remove two Muslim workers employed at the temple, a senior member of the temple committee told ThePrint “nobody will lose their jobs”.
“[There is] no provision that says members of other religions can’t be employed as workers [in the temple],” the source added.
Earlier this week, media reports had claimed deputy secretary of MP’s Religious Trust & Endowments ministry, Pushpa Kalesh, had written to the Maihar temple committee, headed by the district collector, to immediately remove Muslims working at the temple.
Sources in the temple committee told ThePrint that only two Muslims work there, identifying them as Abid Hussain and Mohammad Ayub.
Section C of point 17 of the Madhya Pradesh Maa Sharda Devi Mandir Adhiniyam [Act], 2002, which details provisions for the running of the temple, says workers and members of the management committee will be hired after deliberations by the state government.
ThePrint reached Kalesh on Whatsapp Friday, but the deputy secretary’s office said he was at an event. No further response was received from him by ThePrint till the time of publication of this report.
ThePrint also reached the state’s Religious Trust & Endowments minister Usha Thakur on phone, but received no response till the time of publication of this report.
District magistrate Anurag Verma, who is also the head of the temple management committee, said action will be taken according to rules and regulations. “We’ll take action in accordance with rules and regulations,” Verma told ThePrint over phone. He admitted to receiving the letter from Kalesh.
According to one of the Muslim workers, Hussain, he and Ayub have been working at the temple for more than three decades. While Hussain works as a clerk in the legal department, Ayub works in the temple’s water supply department.
Talking to ThePrint, Hussain said he hadn’t received any notice on being relieved of his duties yet, and has no plans of resigning. ThePrint was unable to contact Ayub as his phone was unreachable.
Hussain also accused Hindutva outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (the Bajrang Dal is a part of the VHP) of raking up the issue of Muslims working at a Hindu temple.
Talking to ThePrint over phone, Bajrang Dal leader and former district president of the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s Satna unit Mahesh Tiwari said, “The Madhya Pradesh Maa Sharda Temple Act clearly says that a non-Hindu can’t be a member of the management committee”.
Though Hussain and Ayyub only work at the temple and are not committee members, Tiwari reasoned, “If non-Hindus can’t be in the management, how can they be workers”.
‘Opposition for past 2 years’
Hussain, however, claimed, “I work in the temple, I also have faith in Maa Sharda. So many times I have taken guests for darshan (visit), and nobody batted an eye, until two years ago, when members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad started creating an issue.”
For the past two years, Hussain alleged, Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad members have been approaching members of the temple management committee and asking for Hussain and Ayyub to be removed. He added that the committee, however, never heeded to such a demand.
“They had also written to the management committee in the past. They’ve been trying to pollute the environment of brotherhood at Maihar for a while now,” Hussain alleged.
The Maihar temple worker added: “I am 55 years old. I have worked here since 1993, where will I go? Who will hire me?”
On 3 January this year, Bajrang Dal members reportedly presented a letter to minister Thakur, demanding the termination of employment of Muslim workers at the Maa Sharda temple.
Deputy secretary Kalesh’s letter to the district magistrate directing the removal of the Muslim workers at the temple, as well as banning sale of alcohol and meat in Maihar, followed this.
Tiwari who claimed to have been one of the key drafters of the letter to Thakur claimed the Indian Constitution cannot be invoked to justify the employment of Muslims in the temple. “Doesn’t matter what the constitution says about equality [of opportunity], the Maa Sharda Temple Act clearly states non-Hindu can’t be members,” he argued.
Tiwari was referring to point 3 under the sub-head ‘constitution of committee’ in the 2002 Act, which states, “any person who doesn’t believe in the Hindu religion or doesn’t accept the way prayer is done in the temple, is not qualified to be a member of the committee”.
The same rule should apply to workers according to him.
The Bajrang Dal leader added that not just workers in the temple, but Muslims were working even in the prasad shops — selling items offered to the deity by devotees — outside the temple. “The shop’s name would be Tripathi or Tiwari Prasad Bhandar, but a Muslim employee would be selling prasad,” Tiwari claimed.
Talking about the ban on the sale of meat and alcohol as mentioned in Kalesh’s letter, the Bajrang Dal leader added, “For over a decade we have been protesting the sale of alcohol and meat in this pilgrimage town. Religious leaders had protested at Ghanta Ghar Chowk [in Maihar] seven years ago. Administration had made all kinds of false promises to us. No action is being taken”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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