Govt should consider bringing non-Hindu religious places under its control : Maharashtra Speaker

Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar advises Maharashtra Government

Rahul Narvekar, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker

Nagpur, Maharashtra – “According to the Constitution, India is a ‘secular country’. However, at present, the Government has taken control of the religious places of only one community, i.e. Hindus. The law should be equal to all. Therefore, the Government should consider taking control of religious places belonging to other religions,” Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar has suggested to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. On December 17th, while passing ‘Shri Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust (Prabhadevi) Act, 1980’ Amendment Bill in the Assembly, Speaker Narvekar gave the above instructions to the Government.

President Rahul Narvekar said, “Temples have been brought under the control of the Government to ensure proper management. This rule should be applicable to all religions. However, at present, this rule has been applied only to Hindus and the people are questioning why only Hindu religious places have been taken under control. The Government should think about this.”

Editorial Perspectives

• Many examples of Waqf Board illegally taking over Hindu lands have come to light. The public is questioning inaction by the Government in these cases.

• Due to corruption in Government controlled temples, their condition has not improved. Therefore, Hindus expect the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to instruct the Government to hand over the Hindu temples back to the devotees.