New Delhi: In the wake of the alleged desecration of the highly revered Tirupati laddu, the Hindu organisations are bringing up renewed demands for the protection of their religious places across the country. Amidst this, the VHP apex body is all set to discuss its demand for "freeing" temples across the country from government control at a meeting to be held in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad's Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal (apex body) will also discuss various contentions issues including religious conversions, a senior functionary of the organisation said on Sunday. The Hindu seers from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and other southern states will attend the meeting, he said.
VHP national secretary general Bajrang Bagda and other senior functionaries will be present at the meeting, he added. "The day-long meeting will discuss the present challenges before Hindu society and the ways to resolve them. The meeting is also expected to discuss the issue of "desecration" of the laddu served in the Tirupati Balaji temple, which is causing "great distress" to Hindu society, and take a decision on the VHP's future course of action," he said.
A resolution on this issue may also be passed at the meeting, the VHP functionary said. He further said the meeting was also likely to deliberate at length the issue of "freeing temples from government control" and wor k out a plan to resolve it. More than four lakh temples are currently under government control across the country, he claimed. "The VHP has been demanding for long that management and control over all these temples be handed over to Hindu society."
The meeting will also discuss the issue of religious conversion and work out a plan to address it, the functionary said. The VHP on Friday termed as "intolerable" the alleged use of animal fat in the Tirupati laddu and demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government hand over control and management of the temple to Hindu society.
On the other hand, Bajranga Bagda had earlier demanded legal action against those involved in "desecrating" the Tirupati prasadam. "The Tirupati incident further strengthens the Vishva Hindu Parishad's belief that government control over temples leads to entry of politics. Due to the appointment of non-Hindu officials there (temples under government control), such impurities are deliberately introduced into the prasad (consecrated food)," he had said in a video statement. (with PTI inputs)
