Andhra Pradesh: Senior temple official dismissed over church attendence

The purge of non-Hindus at Sri Venkateshwara Swamy in Tirumala has also reached the top of the organisation that manages the sacred site. Muslims object: ‘If Hindu temples are to be administered only by those who profess this religion, why is this same principle not applied to the Islamic Waqf?’

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the body that manages the Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh - an important Hindu pilgrimage destination - has suspended one of its senior officials, assistant executive director A. Rajasekhar Babu, for participating in Christian prayers.

The suspension came after the organisation discovered that the man regularly attended Sunday prayers at a local church in his hometown of Puttur, in the Tirupati district.

‘He did not adhere to the organisation's code of conduct and behaved irresponsibly as an employee representing a Hindu religious organisation,’ the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam said in a statement announcing the employee's suspension with immediate effect.

In February, the organisation had already initiated disciplinary proceedings against 18 employees (including six teachers) for practising non-Hindu religious customs and traditions. The action followed the announcement by the new president, B.R. Naidu, that only Hindus should work in institutions run by the temple

Even then, the affair had sparked controversy, not least because it is intertwined with the controversial reform of the Waqf, the body that manages Muslim property, which requires the presence of non-Muslims on its boards of directors.

This rule was approved in April at the behest of BJP nationalists, but is the subject of a series of appeals to the Indian Supreme Court.

Commenting on the Tirupati temple affair, Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of the Islamic organisation All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, said: ‘If only Hindus are to govern Hindu endowments, and only they are to be dependent on them, then why can't the same principle apply to Muslim waqfs? This is hypocrisy in broad daylight.’