Only Hindus should work at Tirupati temple: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu
In February, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board had transferred 18 employees to other posts for ‘participating in non-Hindu religious activities’.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday that only Hindus should be employed by the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati district’s Tirumala, reported ANI.
“If individuals from other religions are currently working there, they will be relocated to other places without hurting their sentiments,” the Telugu Desam Party chief added.
Naidu also announced the cancellation of the allotment of 35 acres of land in Tirupati to hotel developers by the state’s former Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party government.
Naidu justified the decision as one “to protect the sanctity of the temple town” and added that it was made after “serious opposition to the development of luxury hotels here”, The Indian Express reported.
The chief minister’s comments came more than six weeks after the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board, which manages the temple, transferred 18 employees to other posts for practising and “participating in non-Hindu religious activities”.
The February 1 order, issued by Executive Officer J Syamala Rao, said that six of the employees were teachers at educational institutes operated by the temple board, while the others included a deputy executive officer for welfare, an assistant executive officer, an assistant technical officer for electrical works, two nurses, two electricians and a hostel worker.
The board claimed that it had been proven that the employees were practising and participating in non-Hindu religious activities despite having “taken the oath before the photograph/Idol of Lord Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Varu stating that they will follow the Hindu dharma and Hindu traditions only and also stating that they will not follow non-Hindu religious activities” in line with a 1989 government order.
The employees’ alleged activities impacted “the sanctity, sentiments and beliefs of crores of Hindu devotees”, claimed the order.
In November, too, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board had decided to restrict employment at the temple to Hindus. This came soon after the board’s decision to ban the utterance of political and hate speech at the temple, citing the need to preserve the spiritual sanctity of the holy site.
