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@Evening: 🤷 Caste Cannot Be Pretext To Deny Hindus Right To Run Temples
Those who favour state control of temples are essentially those who want Hinduism to die. Casteism is just a red herring, R Jagannathan writes in Swarajya today.
Context: Anti-Hindu and leftist folks generally propagate the myth that temples cannot be freed from state control because that is the only way to check casteism, caste-based discrimination, and exclusion.
Some temples may indeed, regrettably, discriminate against Dalits, but these are hardly the reasons for incidents of violence against Dalits.
The real question, Jaggi writes, is not whether temples freed from state control will continue to practise casteism, but why the state should be involved in running temples at all?
Temples singled out. Why is there a presumption that caste discrimination exists only in temples, and not mosques or churches?
If discrimination is the basis for state meddling in places of worship, why not address the biggest discrimination of them all: exclusion of women from running temples, churches, and mosques, or even officiating as priests?
Assuming we want to prevent caste-based exclusion from temples, why not make a law that enforces this?
What is truly nonsense is the effective presumption, both by the state and often the courts, that Hindu institutions must be secularised and modernised, but not minority institutions.
We don’t bring in the state to do anything other than enforcement. So why focus only on temples and Hindu institutions?
A temple, in any case, is not purely a public place like, say, a park.
It is both private and public, and its traditions can seem discriminatory if viewed from a narrow equality perspective.
There has to be space for exclusive spaces in religion.
Traditional temples offer options for both continuing hallowed tradition, and for adopting new practices and traditions.
If the state wants to make temples like public parks, it should create its own temples, not take over those run by others.
There is no reason why the state should think that only one kind of temple should exist.
In any case, nothing stops the state from making non-discrimination laws for all religious spaces, laws that include all religions and not only Hinduism.
Read the original story by Swarajya editorial director R Jagannathan for a full perspective.
