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The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Temples of social justice
Recently, a political controversy erupted in Tamil Nadu on the issue of diverting temple funds for building colleges. Beyond the political debates, the issue throws light on a unique social justice model around the regulation of secular practices associated with religion. This model, predominantly developed in the erstwhile Madras Presidency, draws strength from a 200-year-old legislative framework which continues till date. It has gained more acceptance in south India. As elections approach in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, clarity on the issue will help diffuse attempts to polarise voters around it. Religious endowments law Through the Religious Endowment and Escheats Regulation 1817, the East India Company set up the earliest legislative architecture around regulation of religious endowments. When the British Crown assumed direct control over Indian territories in 1858, Queen Victoria issued a proclamation stating that the sovereign would restrict interference in religious affairs. This was necessary as there was concern about losing face from the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, which was triggered by religious issues. However, the withdrawal of the British government from religious affairs was not complete. In fact, in the Madras Presidency, various British officials argued for continued oversight of religious endowments. Finally, the British government settled for a balanced approach: the sovereign would not interfere with practices that were essentially religious, such as rituals, but would exercise control over the lands and secular aspects of the religious endowments. The idea of the government supervising religious institutions came to be crystallised when the Justice Party was elected in 1920. One of the earliest legislative interventions by the Justicites was Bill No. 12 of 1922: Hindu Religious Endowments Act. When it was introduced in the Madras Legislative Council, it faced opposition, mainly due to the provision in the law that allowed surplus temple funds to be diverted for other purposes. The nub of the issue was whether funds provided to a temple could be used for secular purposes. The matter was debated and settled in 1925, when the law was enacted. Since then, every revised version of the plenary law, including the current law — The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 — has retained the provision of surplus funds. Also read | Activist alleges 'criminal misappropriation' of temple funds by T.N. HR&CE Dept, Madras High Court calls for response Section 36 of the 1959 Act permits the trustees of religious institutions to appropriate any surplus funds for any purposes listed under the law, with the prior sanction of the Commissioner. 'Surplus' means any amount remaining after adequate provisions have been made for the maintenance of the temple and training of its officials. The Act also empowers the Joint Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner to appropriate funds in cases where the original purpose has become impossible to fulfil. Endowments to temples have a long and rich history. Temples received lavish donations from the sovereign rulers from as far back as in 970 AD, when the Chola empire was at its peak. Historian Anirudh Kanisetti writes that Sembiyan Mahadevi, a Chola queen, made strategic donations of land and kind to temples. The practice continued during the Vijayanagara kingdom. Temples were not just places of worship; they were socio-cultural hubs and were also used for educational purposes. This is confirmed by the inscriptions on temple walls and the spacious mandapams (pillared halls) which were used to hold educational or cultural events. So the original intent argument would also support the theory of utilising temple resources for educational purposes. The 1959 Act has been tested and upheld by constitutional courts. Among the permissible uses of surplus funds under the 1959 Act is the establishment and maintenance of universities or colleges (Section 66). These educational institutions are also required to make available the study of the Hindu religion or Hindu temple architecture. Seen within this framework, building colleges from temple funds is not only legal, but a logical extension of these provisions. Social justice legacy The controversy around the use of temple funds cannot be restricted to discussing legal propositions, however; it also carries ideological and sociopolitical significance. In the pre-colonial era, the motivation for the rulers to support large-scale endowments was that the temples acted as channels through which State resources could be allotted for important welfare projects. Through colonial rule, the British East India Company and the Crown viewed sovereign involvement in the management of temple affairs as necessary for reasons of revenue and maintenance of local control. Over the last century, the Self-Respect Movement, which emerged from the Madras Presidency, viewed the regulation of temples and oversight of their resources as a critical feature of anti-caste reforms. Without this, there would have been no temple entry legislation in 1936 and 1947. Today, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are among the few States where governments have appointed priests from backward classes after a prolonged legal struggle. Ultimately, any argument against government control of temple affairs would be striking at the root of social justice. The role of the government in ensuring that surplus funds are appropriated in a lawful manner is settled. Any reversal of this would only result in a set back of the long legacy of social justice and religious reforms that south India has pioneered.
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
T.N. CM Stalin pays tributes to Raja of Panagal on his birth anniversary
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday (July 9, 2025) paid tributes to Justice Party leader Panaganti Ramarayaningar, popularly known as Raja of Panagal, on his 159th birth anniversary, and credited him for issuing the Communal G.O. and enacting the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act. 'While we now assert with pride that reservation is our right, it was a century ago that this visionary of social justice laid the path through the Communal G.O.,' Mr. Stalin said in a post on X. The Communal G.O. sought 'to increase the proportion of posts held by non-Brahmins,' which also included Indian Christians, Muslims, and Adi-Dravidars, in the Provincial Services, including the Madras Secretariat. Mr. Stalin further said: 'If thousands of temples are being administered systematically today without falling under the control of any one particular group, it is because of the enactment of the HR&CE Act.' He also credited the Raja of Panagal for upholding the dignity of Adi Dravidars and said: 'As the successor to the Justice Party, our Dravidian model government continues to walk on the path of equality, the foundation for which was laid down by the Raja of Panagal.'
Hans India
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
South Korean presidential candidates honor victims of 1980 pro-democracy uprising
Some presidential candidates honored victims of the pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju on Sunday by visiting a cemetery where protesters who were killed 45 years ago were laid. Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, the minor New Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok and the minor Justice Party's Kwon Young-kook were among some 2,500 attendees who took part in the ceremony at the May 18th National Cemetery. On May 18, 1980, demonstrators in Gwangju, including students, protested against the then ruling junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power in a military coup the previous year. The military conducted a bloody crackdown, leaving hundreds dead, Yonhap news agency reported. "Going toward the future by respecting others' differences and sharing their pain is the true way to repay for Gwangju that May," acting President Lee Ju-ho said at the ceremony. "The spirit of solidarity and unity that Gwangju demonstrated that May 45 years ago is a teaching that is needed today." The ceremony featured various performances dedicated to activists who died during the uprising, including Moon Jae-hak, who was the inspiration for a character in Nobel literature laureate Han Kang's novel "Human Acts." The event concluded with all of the participants, including the presidential candidates, acting President Lee and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, singing the song "March for the Beloved" that symbolises the pro-democracy uprising. Meanwhile, the May 18 Foundation, a civic group dedicated to commemorating the pro-democracy movement, expressed "strong regret" over Lee's speech, saying that it did not mention efforts to support the movement, such as outlining the May 18 spirit in the Constitution. The government has held a ceremony marking the pro-democracy uprising every year after May 18 was designated as a memorial day in 1997.
The Hindu
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
DMK's rule in T.N. an extension of Justice Party govt.: Chief Minister
There is no end to the Justice Party. The DMK's rule in Tamil Nadu is an extension of the Justice Party's rule in Madras Presidency, said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Tuesday. Releasing a book on the life and legacy of Justice Party leader and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile Madras Presidency P.T. Rajan titled Dravida Araneriyalar Thamizhavel P.T. Rajan Vaazhve Varalaru, Mr. Stalin said when the Justice Party was defeated in the 1937 election, Rajan had remarked, 'One day we shall take revenge for this defeat.' Thirty years later, when the DMK won the 1967 election, he considered the DMK's victory as a success of the Justice Party. During the 1971 election, he appealed to the people to vote for the DMK to form a strong government, the Chief Minister said. 'Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is not the only heir of P.T. Rajan. We all in the DMK are political heirs of P.T. Rajan. Some may feel irritated when they hear the word 'heir.' They might feel uneasy, but we would keep repeating it.….Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is an intellectual and capable of putting forth strong arguments. But his eloquence should remain a strength, not a weakness,' he said. Mr. Stalin added that the book was not just the biography of one individual, but the history of the Justice Party, its leaders, and its governance achievements. 'Not everyone's life can be called a history, but P.T. Rajan's life is undoubtedly a history. His contributions to various departments like Cooperation, Public Works, and Registration, had shaped Tamil Nadu's development,' the Chief Minister said. 'In 1938, during the anti-Hindi agitations P.T. Rajan famously said, 'We are not opponents of Hindi, but we are against the imposition of Hindi upon us.' We continue to voice the same sentiment today. Though the faces of our enemies may change, their mentality remains the same. Until that mentality changes, our struggle will continue,' he said. Recollecting the speech of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai on April 20, 1967, who called Rajan as a 'Man of culture and a learned man', N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, said Tamil Nadu remained the top State in the country not only because of its economic progress, but also because of its crusade against regressive social norms. He also hailed Mr. Stalin for his stance on implementing two-language policy in the State, the recent landmark judgment of the Supreme Court with respect to the role of Governors in taking decisions on Bills passed by the Assembly, and the State's opposition to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. Justice C.T. Selvam, former Judge, Madras High Court, who received the first copy of the book, recollected his grandfather and Justice Party leader Sir A.T. Panneerselvam's association with Rajan. Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus, TVS Motor Company, recollected his family's long association with the family of P.T. Rajan and the latter's contribution to social justice, equality, spirituality and Tamil. Ministers Duraimurugan and Mr. Thiaga Rajan and Rukmini Palanivel Rajan, chairperson, Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple Board of Trustees, were among those present.
Fox News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
James Carville suggests 'split' with the left over 'pronoun politics'
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville wants the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to distance themselves from the party, suggesting a "split" due to "pronoun politics." "I don't think we can't work together on pronoun politics. This election did not teach you how damaging that is. I don't think there's anything that I can tell you," Carville said on the Politics War Room podcast on Tuesday. "And you say, this guy is stuck in another century, not another decade. And he represents nothing to do with the future of our movement. I can accept that. You're not really going to hurt my feelings. So, maybe we can have a kind of amicable split here," he added. As progressives tend to be very vocal about LGBTQ rights, Carville proposed that there needs to be a "schism" within the Democratic Party. Carville went on to say, "They'll never run against a Republican… All they do is run against other Democrats. I don't quite understand why you're so anxious to have the word Democrat in the description of what you do. But maybe we can have an amicable split here. And you go your way, we go our way, and after the election, we come together and see how much common ground we can find." Carville's comments came after he said last week that the Democratic Party needed to distance themselves from identity politics because their first priority should be to win elections. He explained further that if there is a formidable female candidate to win the White House, then the Democratic Party will rally around her. Carville, who became famous for working on former President Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992, listed several factions within the Democratic Party, including the Justice Party, the Working Families Party, and the Socialist Party. "The only thing I'd ask is just don't use the word Democratic in any title that you have, because most Democrats that I know that are running for office don't want your name, don't want you to be part of the deal," the veteran Democratic strategist said. "They would surely be glad to take your vote. Who wouldn't? Everybody wants to get as many votes as they can. Maybe you come up with your own name. And by the way, nothing against after the election, you can sit down and do like it's done in parliamentary governments or governments around the world."
