Bengaluru/Mysuru: Despite stiff opposition, the State Government has decided to bring in all Hindu religious mutts and educational institutions run by them under its (Muzrai Department) purview. The issue rocked the Assembly this morning with the BJP and JD(S) staging a walkout. A protest was held in front of the Law Courts in Mysuru too this morning against the government move.
The BJP and JD(S) Legislators questioned the government move to control Mutts and curb religious freedom. The government has invited public opinion in this regard. The public notice has been issued by the Muzrai Department inviting suggestions from stakeholders on whether Hindu Mutts, temples and religious institutions should come under the control of Religious Endowment Act. This has angered the BJP and the JD(S).
Calling it an attempt to bring Mutts and temples under its control, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar urged CM Siddharamaiah to drop the process immediately. “The move will force revered seers to stand in queue in front of the department with petitions,” he said, describing it as an “anti-Hindu policy.”
He challenged Siddharamaiah to take over Masjids, Dargahs and Churches.
Sources in the Government said that religious mutts and temples that have so far remained outside the ambit of the government and changes are being made in Muzrai Act to bring them under government control.
A seven-member committee is in the process of suggesting comprehensive changes in the Act. The committee is looking into religious institutions under the purview of the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, popularly known as Muzrai Act.
The committee is headed by advocate and Karnataka Rajya Dharmika Parishad member N.K. Jagannivas Rao.
The committee will seek the views of temple administrators, staff, priests and devotees as well. It will study how the issue is being handled smoothly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and will look at reducing interference of the government by empowering local committees.
In fact, non-inclusion of Mutts and temples and keeping away Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs from the definition of “Hindus” had led a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court to strike down the 2011 and 2012 Amendments brought to the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997. Terming the exclusion as “illegal and discriminatory”, the High Court had struck down amendments in 2015.
Even the 1997 Act was stuck down by the HC in 2006 on the same grounds that Mutts have been kept outside the purview, but the Apex Court stayed a portion of the High Court’s ruling.
This post was published on February 8, 2018 6:59 pm