A priest from Kedarnath shrine has written a letter with his blood to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding scrapping of Char Dham Devasthanam Board (CDDB) and to free Hindu temples of char dham from proposed government control by allowing priests to manage the shrines as they have been doing traditionally for centuries and thousands of years.
Santosh Trivedi, who is a member of Teerath Purohit Samaj Shri Kedarnath and vice president of Akhil Bhratiya Teerath Purohit Yuva Mahasabha said he was prompted to write a letter in his blood as priests have been agitating for last two years, but the government was yet to take any concrete decision on scrapping the board. He said he took his blood through a syringe and then wrote the letter using the same syringe.
The Hindu supported government in state of Uttrakhand has brought out a bill that would bring the ancient and most sacred of Hindu temples of Char Dham under government controls. This must be noted that the ‘secular’ constitution of India puts many restrictions on followers of Hindu dharmas in India while offering several benefits and allowances to minority religions in India such as Christianity and Islam. Huge amount of donations ranging in billions is collected by the government and spent on social purposes while other religion institutions are free to use donations churches and mosques receive to further their religion and ideologies.
The bitter irony is that Uttrakhand state is ruled by alleged Hindu sympathizing BJP party of Narendra Modi. However in more recent years there is simmering anger among Hindus for ignoring their grievances and sometime anti Hindu policies in BJP ruled states.
Vinod Shukla, president of Kedarnath Tirtha Purohit Mahasabha, said, “First the government constituted the Devasthanam Board without the consent of the priests and after that, under the Master Plan, efforts are being made to take over the property of Kedarnath’s priests’ under its control. We will continue to strongly oppose this move and demand free Hindu temples from government controls.
Source: Hindustan times
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