HIGH COURT DISPLEASED ON ENCROACHMENTS OF TEMPLE LANDS SILENCE ON DESTRUCTION OF 100s OF ANCIENT TEMPLE IN STATE OF TAMIL NADU

3 Feb 2020, The Madras High Court directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to submit the details of encroachments on temple lands in the State of Tamil Nadu and the steps that the department had taken to recover the temple properties.

The High Court has given two weeks’ time to the department. The court expressed serious displeasure over many complaints of such encroachments on temple properties.

The presiding judges warned the state officials that they were paid salaries only to perform their duties diligently and warned that the court would not hesitate to order withholding the salaries of the HR&CE officials concerned if they fail to have effective control over their subordinates who were duty-bound to protect the interests of temples.

These were some of the strong oral observations that were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition which insisted on removing the encroachments from 87 acres of the Trisoolanathanar temple land at Trisoolam near Alandur in Chennai.

These statements indeed do not give the complete picture.

The reality of the situation is the state authorities are not only not stopping encroachments and they are rather destroying more and more temples.

More than 500 Temples have been destroyed in 100 days in Tamil Nadu. It has been nothing short of a devastating year for Hindu Temples in Tamil Nadu, a non-stop stream of reports of Hindu Temples demolished. Resulting now in 500 Hindu Temples having been destroyed in just 100 days – unfathomable destruction of Hindu life and property in Tamil Nadu.

Temples that are older than the State of the Republic of India, are destroyed by the authorities claiming they are encroaching on government land. The efforts of the high court are welcome, but they are far from enough to solve the real problem of Hindus.