Fwd: Fw: [Secular Perspective] Letter

[Chakri]

Madam/Sir

The move of Karnataka Government to allot 130 crores for Temples and
mutts in the state is a matter of disgust and serious concern. The
ground for allocation is that this will please the Gods. The Chief
Minister said that this is to seek forgiveness for the sins of
previous Governments, to bring prosperity for the state by more rains
and food production by making the Gods happy. This is blatant
promotion of blind faith, going against the values of our
constitution, which directs the state to promote rational thought and
oppose the blind faith. By now we know that rainfall is related to
ecological factors and food production is related to agricultural
policies. To attribute this to Gods’ will is not only wrong it is a
slap on the scientific temper. BJP in Karnataka came to power by
propping up Baba Budan Giri dargah issue and now it is resorting to
outright communal and obscurantist politics by giving money to
temples. This also displays that BJP like
formations are there just to promote faith in temples and Mutts, to
build their policies around issues of ‘other world’. The builder of
Modern India, Nehru, saw ‘Holy places’ in industries and agricultural
development through planning. In contrast for BJP, Ram temple has been
the core issue. BJP ruled Karnataka is fast falling into the politics
of medieval ages. It is time that people reprimand such retrograde
policies of the BJP and demand that public money cannot be wasted in
temples etc.


Ram Puniyani
All India Secular Forum
1102/5 MHADA Deluxe
Rambaug Powai
Mumbai 400076
Ph 25704061