VHP to launch Free Hindu Temples campaign

Demanding that all Hindu temples be free from government control, members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad said that the organisations will launch a Free Hindu Temples campaign across the country soon.

Addressing presspersons in Kalaburagi on Sunday, VHP North Karnataka president Lingraj Appa demanded that Hindu temples be free from the clutches of government administration and given autonomy.

He warned that the VHP will launch a nationwide movement to press all the State governments to free temples from Muzrai control and hand them over to temple authorities and devotees.

Nearly 35,000 temples across the country are under government control, Mr. Lingraj Appa said and asked why the same rules are not applicable to religious places belonging to other faiths.

Condemning the State government’s decision to impose a ban on the entry of Sri Adrushya Kadasiddeshwar Swamy of Kaneri Mutt into Karnataka for making derogatory remarks against Lingayat seers, Mr. Lingraj Appa said that the involvement of the State government in the matter of mutts may create confusion.

Any conflicts and disputes arising from differing beliefs within the same sects can be resolved by religious heads themselves and political interference in religious matters is not acceptable, he said.

Mr. Lingraj Appa also demanded that the State government revoke the ban order imposed on Sri Kadasiddeshwar Swamy’s entry.