Integrity Score 2205
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By Abhishek Kumar
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections barely three months away, political parties have raised the poll pitch and gearing themselves for a high-octane campaign. The southern state of Karnataka is no exception, where in 2023, Congress won the assembly polls securing 135 seats. In the past few months, the BJP has repeatedly accused the Congress government in Karnataka of minority appeasement. Last month, the BJP heightened its criticism of Congress as anti-Hindu while alleging that on the orders of the state government, police personnel had removed a Hanuman flag from a flag post in the Keragodu village of Mandya. However, in reality, the flag post was on government land, on which only the national flag and the flag of Karnataka were permitted to be hoisted.
Now, the BJP has accused the Karnataka government of diverting money from Hindu temples to the welfare of the minority community. Along with this, BJP leaders have also alleged that the Congress government of Karnataka was appointing non-Hindus in the temple trusts by amending the Hindu Religious Institutions & Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, and taking 10% of the donations received by Hindu temples as tax. It is also claimed that according to the amendment, donations received by temples and others can also be used for the welfare of any religious community.
There are four related but distinct claims in these allegations, which Alt News will investigate in this report:
1. Has the Siddaramaiah government started taxing Hindu temples?
2. Is the amount collected as tax on donations to Hindu temples (10%) being used for the welfare of ‘any’ religion?
3. Is money collected from Hindu temples by the Karnataka government being diverted for the welfare of minority communities?
4. Has the Siddaramaiah government amended the laws and introduced a provision to appoint non-Hindus in temple trusts?
News18 anchor Rahul Shivshankar tweeted on February 16 that the Congress government in Karnataka had allocated Rs 330 crore in the Budget for the development of Waqf property, the construction of Haj Bhawan in Mangalore, and the community development for Christians.
Read Full Story https://www.altnews.in/truth-of-rumors-around-karnatakas-new-hindu-religious-endowments-amendment-bill/