The Congress Party, whenever it has been in power, whether at the Centre or in the states, has never lost an opportunity to exploit or shortchange Hindus. Ex- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once famously declared that minorities had the first right on the nation’s assets, overlooking the plight of millions of Hindus who wallow in poverty. The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Bill 2024, which the Congress government in Karnataka recently passed is a step in the same direction and reflects the same warped anti-Hindu ideology that the Congress Party has always pursued.
This new bill mandates the state to collect 10% tax from temples with revenues greater than Rs 1 crore and 5% from those earning between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore. That the Bill did not pass the Legislative Assembly and has been placed on the back burner is another story The Karnataka government’s contention that the extra money would be used to support the poorer Hindu temples is neither justifiable nor appropriate.
Instead of “stealing” from other Hindu temples, the government is “duty bound to provide aid in grant form to these indigent Hindu institutions” as it has done with the Muslims and even the affluent Christian community. When presenting the 2024-25 budget in February, Karnataka’s Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah allocated Rs 100 crore for the development of Wakf properties and granted Rs 200 crore for the development of the Christian community in the state.
In contrast, a cursory review of the actual budget indicates that there are no direct grants given to Hindu temples or Hindu organisations. A slew of secular public infrastructure projects like residential complexes and bridge in the vicinity of towns with Hindu temples are being falsely touted as Hindu endowments to hoodwink Hindus. (https://finance. karnataka.gov.in/storage/ pdf-files/1_BudgetSpeech_ ENG.pdf)
So, not only have Hindu religious institutions been deprived of any direct grants but are now being hit with a double whammy of government taxation, which other communities are exempt from. The timing of this Bill is also noteworthy. On 31 January, CM Siddaramaiah generously announced a sum of Rs 100 crore for the repair of Ram temples in the state to blunt the BJP’s popularity post the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Then on 21 February, the Karnataka government passed the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Bill to tax Hindu temples. Was this an attempt to surreptitiously channel monies from Hindu temples to fund CM Siddaramiah’s grand declaration and make it appear as an act of Congress largesse? The inference is obvious. Minority appeasement done at the cost of Hindus is a cornerstone of Congress policy.
The Congress Party as a rule has been in the habit of donating large amounts of money to minorities regardless of their need and has been doing so for decades since Independence. During CM Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure (2013-2018), large amounts were doled out to non-Hindu communities. In response to an RTI question the following information was unearthed:
* 2015-16, a total of Rs 1484.60 lakhs (Rs 14.85 crores) granted for repair and renovation of churches alone.
* 2014-15, Rs 1,498.32 lakhs provided in grants for construction of new “Community Halls” (Samudaya Bhavana) and Rs 1,656.33 lakhs for repair and renovation of churches.
* 2013-2014, Rs 672.10 lakhs granted for construction of new “Community Halls” and Rs 1,230.85 lakhs for repair and renovation of churches.
What makes this even more untenable is that Christian institutions in the state have extremely deep pockets and are not in need of these grants. For example, the Church of South India, which has 22 dioceses across southern India and a significant presence in Karnataka, was found by the Madras High Court, when adjudicating a petition, to have assets of more than Rs 1 lakh crore and receipts amounting to Rs 1,000 crore (Economic Times, 2 April 2012).
Temple funds in Karnataka have been subject to even more blatant embezzlement in the past. In 1997, the Karnataka government received a revenue of over Rs 52 crore from 264,000 Hindu temples. While Rs 17 crores were returned to the temples for maintenance, Rs 12 crores were diverted to support madrasas and churches. The balance of Rs 23 crores was usurped by the government for its own programs. The figures for 1998 were similar. In 1999, of the Rs 65 crores collected, a meager Rs 15 cr was given back to temples, with Rs 27 and Rs 8 crores being reserved for madrasas and church development, respectively.
The remainder was unaccounted for. With the trend continuing, Hindu temples received only Rs 10 crores of their Rs 72-crore revenue in 2002, with madrassas getting a whopping Rs 50 crores and Christians Rs 10 crores. In short, while hundreds of Hindu temples languished untended, money that even poor Hindus offered for upkeep of their temples and subsistence of their faith was being channelled to garnish Muslim mosques and Christian churches: a shocking travesty of justice.
Finally, the courts stepped in and in a landmark decision on 9 September 2006, the Karnataka High Court struck down the Karnataka Hindu Religious and Endowment Act of 1997, indicating that “the legislation violated Articles 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution which provided for right to equality, freedom of conscience and freedom of profession, practice and propagation of religion and also the freedom to manage the religious affairs.” Castigating this illegal siphoning off of funds, the court categorically decreed, “Devotees of Hindu temples provide money for temple purposes and it cannot be spent for non-Hindu causes.”
(HC Strikes Down Act on Temples. (Deccan Herald, 9 September 2006).
Throughout the ages, Hindu temples, because of their magnificence and opulence, have always evoked ire, envy and greed, leading at times to their eventual destruction. The second millennium saw Muslim invaders loot, plunder and raze thousands of Hindu temples. In modern times, Hindu temples are not being physically destroyed: they are being economically bled to death by unprincipled political parties pursuing a warped policy.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar rightfully remarked that the Congress government’s move to tax temples was “Rahul Gandhi’s version of the medieval jizya.”
Yes, when only Hindus are taxed while other communities are exempt, there is no doubt that it is akin to jizya.