Bengaluru: A bill passed late Wednesday by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, which proposes to collect a portion of the earnings from state-run temples, has triggered a political slugfest with the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declaring it “anti-Hindu”.
The passing of the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Bill 2024 added to the already turbulent Budget session with the Opposition trying hard to corner the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government for tabling such a law.
In its present form, the bill proposes to collect and utilise 10 percent of the revenue of state-run temples earning more than Rs 1 crore, and 5 percent from temples with revenues between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
The main point of contention raised by the BJP is the wording in the bill, which says that the money collected can be used for “other religious institutions” that are “poor or in needy circumstances”, and that non-Hindus can become trustees in a temple. A section of the BJP has alleged that CM Siddaramaiah has retained an element of ambiguity by not wording it as “Hindu Religious Institutions” in order to divert funds to similar establishments in other communities, particularly Muslim.
With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the BJP in Karnataka is intensifying its attacks on Siddaramaiah and allege appeasement politics by way of additional grants in the budget and Congress-led governments policies to secure minority vote. The BJP hopes that by “highlighting” such issues, it can consolidate the scattered vote of the larger Hindu community, said political leaders.
The funds collected will be moved to a corpus fund and various committees will decide on how best it can be used to fix roads, libraries and other facilities for pilgrims, according to the bill.
Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra termed the legislation an extension of CM Siddaramaiah’s “anti-Hindu policies”, adding that the state government had spared other religions from such laws.
In a long post on X, Vijayendra said that the “Corrupt, inept #LootSarkaar with its penchant for anti-Hindu ideology in the guise of secularism, has cast its evil eyes on the Temple revenues. Through the Hindu Religious Endowments amendment act, it is trying to siphon off donations as well as offerings from Hindu temples and religious institutions in order to fill its empty coffers….”
Corrupt, inept #LootSarkaar with its penchant for anti Hindu ideology in the guise of secularism, has cast its evil eyes on the Temple🛕 revenues. Through the Hindu Religious Endowments amendment act, it is trying to siphon off donations as well as offerings from Hindu temples… pic.twitter.com/Vzf9RQTaP4
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) February 22, 2024
Minister for Transport and Muzrai, Ramalinga Reddy, however, told ThePrint Thursday that such a practice has existed since 2003.
“From 2003, this practice has been prevalent. About 34,000 temples that have less than Rs 5 lakh don’t have to pay anything. From Rs 5-25 lakh are ‘B grade’ temples who had to pay 5 percent on gross (revenues). And those above Rs 10 lakh had to pay 10 percent. What we have done is removed gross (revenues) and made it net (revenues),” said Reddy, who is also a working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Reddy added that the funds collected from state-run temples will be routed to a Dharmika Parishad (common pool fund) to then be utilised for the betterment of priests and their families. The money will be used for the benefit of ‘C grade’ temples and to provide insurance and other facilities for the nearly 40,000-50,000 priests and their families, said the minister.
“When a priest dies, his family gets Rs 35,000 and now I am trying to get them insured for Rs 5 lakh which will cost Rs 6-7 crore per year (premium payments). Even if there is just one child per family, then it will cost us Rs 5-6 crore to provide scholarships. And a housing scheme. Keeping in mind the welfare of priests, we have increased the slab,” Reddy told ThePrint.
Opposition criticism
In a post on X, R. Ashok, Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature, asked the Congress: “Why do you hate Hindus and their temples so much?”
“The evil and greedy eyes of the Congress have now fallen on Hindu temples as they have come forward to collect 10 percent commission from them. Devotees contribute for festivals, fairs, and other celebrations and the Congress is now eyeing this money,” he wrote.
ಲೂಟಿಕೋರ @INCKarnataka ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ವಕ್ರದೃಷ್ಟಿ ಈಗ ಹಿಂದೂ ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳ ಹುಂಡಿಯ ಮೇಲೂ ಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದು, ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳ ಆದಾಯದಲ್ಲಿ 10% ಕಮಿಷನ್ ಪಡೆಯಲು ಮುಂದಾಗಿದೆ.
ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ ಕಾಲಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಜೀರ್ಣೋದ್ಧಾರವಾಗಲಿ, ಉತ್ಸವ, ಜಾತ್ರೆಗಳು ವಿಜೃಂಭಣೆಯಿಂದ ನಡೆಯಲಿ, ಭಕ್ತರ ಅನ್ನ ದಾಸೋಹಕ್ಕೆ, ವಸತಿ ನಿಲಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗಲಿ ಎಂದು ಭಕ್ತರು ನೀಡುವ… pic.twitter.com/ZljiWnP6xF
— R. Ashoka (ಆರ್. ಅಶೋಕ) (@RAshokaBJP) February 22, 2024
The issue has attracted sharp criticisms from even central BJP leaders like Rajeev Chandrasekhar, scores of other pro-Hindu voices, as well as industry captains.
T.V. Mohandas Pai, former Infosys board member and chairman of Aarin Capital, asked the government to clarify its stand.
“@CMofKarnataka @siddaramaiah @DKShivakumar Pl clarify if Non Hindus can become members of temple management committees or other committees dealing with Hindu temples under this law. @BSBommai,” Pai asked on X.
Stormy budget session
A two-term chief minister, Siddaramaiah has often been targeted by the BJP and its affiliated organisations as “anti-Hindu”.
From his early years in public life Siddaramaiah identified as an atheist and rationalist.
However, over the years, at least since he became CM for the first time in 2013, he began calling himself an agnostic. But in recent months, he identified as a “believer” claiming to have built Ram temples in his village.
Siddaramaiah Thursday accused the BJP of spreading falsehood for “political gain” and that the provision for a common pool has been in place since 1997.
“The common pool is administered solely for religious purposes connected with the Hindu religion. The Common Pool Fund has been utilised only for the religious purposes of Hindu institutions since the Act came into force in 2003, and it will continue to be used for the same purposes in the future. It has not been utilised for any other purposes or for the benefit of followers of other religions,” he said in a statement released to the media.
He added that the BJP were “misleading the public and polarising people along communal lines for political leverage”.
In December last year, when accused of ‘appeasement’ by the Opposition following his statement about the government’s plan to increase the annual budget for minorities, he had told reporters: “What is wrong with that?”
In the Budget, presented on 16 February, the Siddaramaiah government allocated Rs 360 crore to the CM’s Special Development Programme and Minorities Colony Development Programme, for the year. The Budget also had provisions for grants to other minority communities like Jains and Sikhs, besides Rs 200 crore for the overall development of Christians.
Further, the Budget also had a provision for allocation of Rs 100 crore for development of wakf properties.
What added to the political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP was the state government’s decision to pay a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the family of a resident of Kerala’s Wayanad who was killed by a stray wild elephant collared by the Karnataka forest department.
The BJP accused Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre of making the special concession after he was ‘ordered’ to do so by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Member of Parliament from Wayanad.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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