Is YSR buckling under Sangh Parivar's pressure?

July 5,2007

HYDERABAD (ICNS): Of late, Andhra Pradesh government has issued some orders and initiated other moves that smack of anti-secularism and curb the freedom of the Non-Hindus. Chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy has buckled under the pressure of the Sangh Parivar and the Peetathipatis who built up a movement around Tirumala, writes Fr Dr Anthoniraj Thumma

ANTI-SECULAR MOVES OF AP GOVERNMENT

Of late, the government of Andhra Pradesh has issued some orders and initiated other moves that smack of anti-secularism and curb the freedom of the Non-Hindus. On May 22, 2007, the government promulgated the Ordinance 3 of 2007 called “the Andhra Pradesh Propagation of Other Religions in the places of Worship or Prayer (Prohibition) Ordinance, 2007.” It empowered the state to prohibit propagation of religion in places of worship or prayer other than the religion traditionally practised at such place.

Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy is very keen to get this ordinance passed in the forthcoming monsoon session of the AP Legislative Assembly. This innocuous ordinance was promulgated with the calculated plan of issuing government orders (GOs) yielding to the irrational and unconstitutional demands of the Sangh Parivar. Basing on the ordinance, GO Ms. No: 746 of Revenue (Endowment III) Department dated 02-06-2007 was issued according a special status and dispensation to Tirumala changing its nomenclature to Tirumala Divya Kshetram (TDK) and another GO Ms. No: 747 of Revenue (Endowment III) Department dated 02-06-2007 was issued notifying some Hindu temples for prohibiting propagation of other religions. The places of worship and prayer where the propagation of other religions is banned by the notification include the Tirumala Divya Kshetram (TDK), all the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and temples in Tirupati city, and nineteen other major temple towns located all over AP.

The Chief Minister released the GOs in the press conference on June 8, 2007, asserting that his government has taken these moves in order to give respect to the religious sentiments of the people and to safeguard public order by averting communal disturbances. Yet, in same press conference, the Chairman of TTD, Karunakar Reddy was forcefully denying the occurrence of propagation of other faiths in Tirumala.

Alienation of Vast Area to Tirumala Temple

The hill town of Tirumala where the temple of Lord Venkateswara is situated and the seven hills surrounding it have been accorded special status by the state government as a sacred place of religious importance by declaring them a holy place, "Tirumala Divya Kshetram". According to the GO No: 746, it shall comprise the seven hills of Seshadri, Garudadri, Venkatadri, Narayanadri, Vrishabhadri, Vrishadri and Anjanadri, right from the foothills, the holy teerthams of Tirumala. The borders of TDK are earmarked from the foothills on all sides including the foothill starting from Alipiri and covering all the roads, footpaths leading to Tirumala village from Chandragiri side beginning with the Devasthanams near Chandagiri mettu known as Srivari mettu, from Balapalli beginning with Chittoor District border, the motorable road leading from Tirupathi to Tirumala, ie first ghat road, motorable road leading from Tirupathi to Tirumala, ie, second ghat road; and motorable road from Tirumala to Papavinasanam. The same GO in section 9 stipulates: "It shall be the primary duty of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams management to continue uninterruptedly with utmost devotion the traditional rituals and practices and no other religion shall be allowed to be propagated in Tirumalla Divya Kshetram area by words, either spoken or written or by signs or visible representation or by distributing any printed material or other forms of religious literature in terms of Section 2(1) of AP Propagation of Other Religions in the Places of Worship or Prayer (Prohibition) Ordinance 2007 promulgated on May 22, 2007."

In the TDK zone propagation of other faiths, political election process, and other activities like sale of meat and begging are banned along with immoral activities. “The executive officer of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams has been empowered under Section 114 of the AP charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987, to take action to prevent begging, consumption of intoxicating liquor, drugs or cigarettes, meat or meat products. Slaughter of animals or birds, gaming and gambling are expressly prohibited under this Act.” He will have the authority normally exercised by a sarpanch or the executive authority under AP Panchayat Raj Act of 1994. Hence no elections or political activity are permitted in TDK. The big area of TDK given away by the government includes reserved forest and many hamlets of people of diverse faiths with their own places of worship and prayer. Does a state government have powers to alienate such vast area including the reserved forest to a religious shrine?

Ban on Non-Hindus in Temple Towns

Still worse, under government order No. 747, the AP government has included in the ban more Hindu temple towns along with the Tirumala Divya Kshetram. This notified places of worship for prohibiting propagation of other religions under Section 2(2) of the above mentioned ordinance are TDK, ten Theerthams lying in TTD limits, another ten temples mentioned in the first schedule of AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowment Act of 1987 which again come under the jurisdiction of TTD and are located in the city limits of Tirupati, and another nineteen Devasthanams situated in the various parts of AP.

Even before the notification, the extremist Sangh Parivar groups have been claiming exclusive rights and attacking Christians in these and other areas. Last year, Mother Teresa sisters (Missionaries of Charity) were subjected to harassment in Tirupati while caring for the HIV/AIDS patients in the government Hospital. Not long ago, a pastor who was crossing the steps on the hill of the Simhachalam Devasthanam to reach his house was beaten black and blue and paraded in front of the media stripped of his shirt. What happens to the right of practice of faith of the people of other faiths guaranteed by Article 30 of the Constitution? Can the government block the exercise of the various rights given to the citizens under Constitution Article 19? Does this Notification mean that non-Hindus cannot move, or live or take up any activity or occupation for their livelihood in the notified temple towns? Bandaru Dattattreya, the state president of Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) who is claiming victory, is now demanding the repatriation of all non-Hindu officials and others from these notified temples areas and the posting of only Hindus in these areas especially under TTD. Most of the 13,000 and odd employees of the TTD are not directly engaged in performing pujas or serving inside the temples. Should even those employed in other secular duties be deported? Must they be forced to wear the dress and symbols that have Hindu religious significance as is being forced upon them now? Do the employees of Mosques, Churches and Gurudwaras belonging to other religions treated in such a manner by the authorities there?

Special Religious Zones (SRZs)?

As John Dayal, a senior journalist and member of the National Integration Council (NIC) writes: “After Special Economic Zones, it is the turn of Special Religious Zones, and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Rajshekhar Reddy shows the way … Several questions have been raised by the controversial decision of the Congress government of Andhra Pradesh, led by chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy, in the hasty ordinance, or backdoor law which effectively bans all non Hindu activity - worship, social work, educational institutions, freedom of religion and religious profession, presumably also Wakf - in the seven hills of the Tirumalla range in the south of the State, and close to its borders with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka … No other religion in the world has a place entirely its own, where no one else can enter. The Vatican, a model for many upstarts, allows anyone to worship in his or her own way, and indeed one can see many Hare Krishna devotees on its streets. Rome has a mosque and if Hindus

wanted it, or Sikhs for that matter, they could have temple or a Gurudwara. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and Jerusalem, his `Karma Bhoomi and punya Bhoomi' is holy to three religions, including Islam. Nankana Sahib, is holy to the Sikhs, but is open to all religions. Even fundamentalist and military dictatorships in Pakistan have maintained the secular environ of Nankana sahib. Amritsar, the Holy Sikhs home for the lovely Golden Temple Har Mandir, is open to all … But India is a secular state, and this fact is enshrined in the Constitution. If Tirumalla is holy to one Deity, Guruvayur is holy to another. Madurai and Thanjavur are also holy places. So is Benares. Gaya and Sanchi are holy to the Buddhists. Ajmer Sharif is a holy Sufi Islamic Shrine. Hazratbal in Srinagar makes the city holy, and the entire Himalayan range is the abode of the Gods, literally. And then there is Kurukhshetra, the place where the Lord Krishna personally revealed the Gita to Arjuna. The great thing about India is that this list is endless. Should they be barred to non Hindus, or Non Muslims, or to Non Sikhs, or to Non Buddhists… What happens to Freedom of faith in Tirumalla? What happens to Article 30? What happens to a lot of many other things, including the right of the Hindus themselves to get medical assistance and education from anyone they chose? What happens to the freedom of faith of the Dalits, OBCs, Christians and others who live in the area to practice the faith of their choice? What happens to the concept of India if one part of it is not really a part of it? We are opposing Special Economic Zones - because the writ of India does not run in those territories. I oppose Special Religious Zones.”

Sanathana Dharma Parishad

While the Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishad of TTD has intensified the propagation of Hinduism all over the state with new programmes like free distribution of religious literature, Dalita Govindam religious functions and construction of temples in the Dalit hamlets, bajana sangams, the AP government itself has come forward to take up the propagation of Hinduism yielding to the pressures of the extremists. A Bill has been introduced in the AP legislative assembly, (L.A. Bill No. 7 of 2007) on March 18, 2007 titled “A Bill further to amend the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987” and was referred to a select committee. Under section 152 (A) of the Bill the government is proposing to constitute a Sanathana Dharma Parishad under the chairmanship of minister of endowments at state level to advise the government in the matter of temple administration and all matters related to preservation of Hindu culture and religion. The secretary to the government in the revenue department and commissioner of endowments are to be the secretaries to the Parishad and be members along with other Hindu Peetathipathis and pandits. The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill makes it clear that “an Apex body called Sanathana Dharma Parishad is being constituted to advise the department as well as take forward the movement to propagate the basic and best tenets of Hinduism.”

This move of the AP government again raises many questions about the secular nature of the government. Under the Indian Constitution, can a state government set up a body to propagate a particular religion? Can one of its ministers and, or officials be part of such a body? Meanwhile some of the organisations like the Andhra Pradesh Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samiti and US-based Global Hindu Heritage Foundation keep criticizing the government for its negligence, mismanagement and poor maintenance of the 32,000 temples in the state and improper administration of their properties. They demand the scrapping of the endowment department itself and constituting a Dharmik Mandali in its place. In a seminar organised by such groups on the management of Hindu temples in Hyderabad on June 16, 2007, IV Subba Rao, principal secretary of the endowments was trying to pacify them by showcasing the proposed Sanathana Dharman Parishad.

By going ahead and promulgating the ordinance and issuing the GOs mentioned above in spite of opposition from many groups, the chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy has manifested his submission to the will of the Hindu extremist groups who have been taking advantage of his Christian identity to blackmail him. He has buckled under the pressure of the Sangh Parivar and the Peetathipatis who built up a movement around Tirumala. His government is engaged in the appeasement of the Hindu majority to ward of the false accusation of being favorable to the Minorities.

Yet, it is only a minuscule minority among the Hindu Community which is supportive of such unconstitutional communal demands while the majority is secular, pluralistic and open to other Faiths. The present moves of the AP government go against many of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and discriminate against the non-Hindus. Not only their religious freedom, also right to movement, right to life and livelihood would be denied to the non-Hindus especially to the Christians who are already targeted in these areas. These moves of appeasement may not stand the scrutiny of the courts as it happened in other hasty decisions of this government. Unless a strong opposition is expressed the AP government will get the anti-secular ordinances passed by the AP legislative assembly. It must desist from succumbing to the pressure of the communal forces and depriving the citizens of their fundamental rights in violation of the secular character of the Constitution.


Fr Dr Anthoniraj Thumma, MA, MTh, Ph D

(Professor in Contextual Theology)

executive secretary, AP Federation of Churches – APFC (Ecumenical)

deputy secretary, AP Bishops’ Council – APBC (Catholic)

regional secretary, APBC Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue