Trustee secular, grabbing and selling temple lands: VHP

•Levels serious allegations of land grab by the State governments and politicians

•Demands to stop setting up solar power plants in temple lands- VHP to State government

•Alleges it is another conspiracy by secular governments to privatise temple lands

•Bulls offered to Vemulawada temple are sold to several houses in the name of returning to farms

•The fate of about 2.5 lakh acres of land belonging to 9,608 Muts and Mandirs registered with the Endowments Dept is uncertain.

•The land of Sri Jannadha Swamy Temple in Boggulukunta, where the State Endowment Office located and the records of it vanished

•Four acres of valuable lands of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple lands in Abdis near the GPO went for police stations, mosques, and private businesses

Hyderabad: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Telangana levelled serious allegations on successive State governments calling, that the secular State governments be turned into grabbers and sellers of temple lands.

The latest, the State government attempting to privatise temple lands in the name of establishing solar power plants in temple lands, it said. It demanded the State government immediately roll back its proposed move to establish solar power plants on temple lands.

Addressing a joint media conference, VHP national representative Dr Ravinuthala Sashidhar, Telangana State Unit President B Narasimha Murthy, Vice-President Sunitha Rammohan Reddy, and National President of Mandir Prabandh Parishad M Rama Raju stated that the VHP strongly condemned the State government's proposal to hand over temple lands to private entities in the name of establishing solar power plants. They alleged that this is another attempt by the secular government to privatise temple lands and warned that the VHP would oppose the government's efforts to do so under the guise of solar power development.

Announcing a list of demands, the VHP leaders called for the immediate rollback of the plan to set up solar power plants on temple lands, the release of a white paper on the movable and immovable properties of temples, and the public disclosure of the Justice A Venkata Ramireddy Commission report, along with the actions that the state government intends to take for its implementation. They also demanded immediate action for the restoration of alienated temple lands and the handover of temple lands currently under the occupation and control of various government departments, as well as the removal of other religious constructions built on temple lands. The leaders warned that the VHP would launch an agitation if the government failed to meet these demands and take immediate action. Furthermore, they stated that temples should be free from the control of secular governments and handed over to Hindus to protect their assets and sanctity. For this reason, the VHP has issued a nationwide call for the liberation of Hindu temples from state control.

The VHP leader stated that several court judgments have clarified that the government is only a trustee, not the owner of the temple lands. Successive secular governments have been managing the temple properties at will, keeping the temples' assets under the guise of the Endowment Department and the 1987 Endowment Law. "This poses a threat to both the movable and immovable properties of the temple lands. There is a concern that temple lands are being converted into government lands, with thousands of acres sold or appropriated in the name of government needs," he added.

Have seen thousands of acres alienated in this manner. Although there is an Endowment Ministry, the State government is not allocating resources to them. Instead, it is collecting a 15 per cent tax in the name of common good funds while openly admitting that it cannot protect the temple lands. Repeated incidents violating the sanctity of the temples are surfacing.