Asking only a few to take off shirt to allow entry into a temple is inhuman; everyone is equal in God’s eyes

Congress CM in Karnataka Siddaramaiah’s statement

Siddaramaiah, Karnataka CM (Credits : One India)

Bengaluru (Karnataka) – “I had once gone to a temple in Kerala, where they asked me to remove my shirt and enter. I told them I will not enter the temple and pray from outside. They were not asking everyone to remove their shirts, but just a few. This practice is inhumane… All are equal for god,” Siddaramaiah said during the celebrations for the 169th birth anniversary of social reformer Narayana Guru.

(Credits : India Today)

Several temples in south India require men to remove their shirt before going near the sanctum sanctorum. They can wear ‘angavastra’, which is a shoulder cloth or a stole-like cloth.

Editorial perspectives

• It is necessary to follow the rules laid down by each temple. Many offices have various rules and we are obliged to follow them, no one opposes it. Isn’t that inequality there too ?

• Such a statement can be from those who do not know about scriptures and traditions; and those who have no faith in the Hindu Dharma. No one heeds such comments.