Justice Katju Slams Use of Rs 9,000 Crore Govt Money on Kumbh Mela

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The money could have been used to build schools and hospitals and on other developmental projects 

Team Clarion

NEW DELHI – Former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju has severely criticised the involvement of the state and central governments and the use of the exchequer’s money on religious events like Kumbh Mela. He noted that the money could have been used to build schools and hospitals and on other developmental projects.

Katju recently wrote a piece for The Philox website raising objections to the use of tax payer’s money for religious activities while noting that government money worth 9,000 crores is being spent in the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj.

“A huge amount of money (estimated at over Rs 9,000 crores) has been spent on this event by the Central and UP Governments, to which I have strongly objected. It will be blowing up a huge sum of money on a religious event, money which should be spent on the welfare of our people like building good schools and hospitals,” the former Supreme Court judge wrote.

Katju considers the belief of washing off sins by taking baths in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers as “superstition” and “nonsense”. According to him, the mela promotes superstitions, as people have a bath under the belief that these rites wash away their sins”. This is “unscientific and humbug,” he said.

However, he said people have the right to be stupid and believe in superstitions. “But why should the government promote superstitions by financing them? In fact, this is against Article 51A(h) of the Indian Constitution which directs all citizens (which includes government authorities too) to promote the scientific temper,” he said.

He said he has no objection to holding melas and taking out religious processions or going to temples, mosques, churches or gurdwaras. What he objects to is the government doling out huge sums of money on a religious event.

“The Indian Constitution says that India is a secular country. Secularism does not mean that one cannot practice his/her religion. It means that religion is a private affair, and the state will have nothing to do with it. In other words, there will be a separation of church and state. So, if people want to hold a mela, they have the right to do so, but they have to do so at their own expense, not by government funding,” asserted Katju.

He also drew attention to the politicisation of the Kumbha Mela by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

“The event has been politicised by the BJP probably with an eye on the coming 2027 UP elections, and elections in other states to get Hindu votes, as is evident from the fact that all over the mela premises there are huge portraits and posters of Modi and Yogi Adityanath. This is reminiscent of the Ram Mandir ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony in January 2024 in Ayodhya, which was politicised with an eye on the parliamentary election of 2024,” noted Katju.

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