Ram Temple donation theft tests VHP’s demand to free temples from state control

The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has emerged as an unexpected hurdle in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) flagship campaign to free Hindu temples from government control.

Currently, the States that have legislation governing the management of Hindu temples include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Maharashtra.

Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan also have laws that allow the government to exercise control over temples.

During a media interaction in the past, the VHP’s organising general secretary Milind Parande had said that between 20,000 and 50,000 temples are under government control in 11 States alone. Describing this as a “threat to Hindu society”, the VHP launched a nationwide campaign in 2021 to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from government control. The organisation argued that offerings made by devotees should be used exclusively for religious and charitable purposes.

Over the past five years, the organisation made multiple attempts to persuade the Central government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose ideological parent organisation is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to take up the issue. A think tank comprising retired bureaucrats, judges, and lawyers was formed to prepare a draft legislation. The VHP also launched a nationwide outreach campaign to meet Members of Parliament from both the ruling party and the Opposition to garner support for the proposal.

“With the donation row at the Ram Temple, a movement spearheaded by the VHP, the organisation’s efforts on this front are likely to face a setback,” a senior functionary said.

“Haani kewal dhan ki nahi hoti, haani dharam ki bhi hoti hai, haani maan-samman ki bhi hoti hai. Yahan har cheez ki hui hai (The loss is not just of money. There is a loss of faith, a loss of moral standing, and a loss of honour and respect. Everything has suffered here),” he said

Another VHP functionary from Delhi acknowledged that the current situation has put the organisation’s campaign under greater scrutiny.

“I won’t say that our campaign will derail, but we may have to be prepared to answer some difficult questions,” he said.

“People may ask questions about this, but if the matter is resolved in the right direction, faith will be restored. We are hopeful because the Chief Minister, who has ordered the probe, is also a monk himself. He will not allow anyone to play with the emotions of Hindus,” VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said.

VHP president Alok Kumar, however, dismissed suggestions that the incident would disrupt the organisation’s campaign. “There are many temples run by private trusts that are functioning very well across the country. This includes the Jhandewalan Temple and the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Delhi, as well as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple network. Have you ever heard of any such controversy or dispute involving these temples?” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu.

He also cited the examples of Kerala’s Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Sabarimala Temple, where recent cases of gold theft were investigated by Special Investigation Teams.

“Both these temples were under government control,” he said, adding that the VHP’s objective is to ensure that money donated by Hindu devotees is used for Hindu religious and charitable causes, and that this goal would not be affected by the Ram Temple episode.