The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had first launched the campaign of preventing Muslims from setting up shops during temple fairs.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Karnataka Rajya Hindu Jaatra Vyaparasthara Sangha, the rabid Hindutva association of businessmen, has urged the state government not to allow non-Hindus (Muslims) to set up shops during fairs or annual festivals of temples.
Sangha President Mahesh Das said that under Section 31 (12) of Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act no property including land, building, or site situated near the temple should be leased to non-Hindus, a report in Deccan Herald said on Friday.
Mahesh also urged the government to ensure that `elam’ (auctioning of stalls in temple premises) is not conducted in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. “Elams, seen only in DK and Udupi districts, is root-cause of all problems,” he said.
“Management committee of temples, that are not under the endowment department, can take a decision on whether to allow Muslim vendors during temple festivals,” reports reaching here quoted him as saying.
Presently, the Sangha, launched in May this year, has over 70,000 members. A meeting of the members will be held soon, Das said. He said they have decided to float an association in order to save Hindu vendors from total financial ruin.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had first launched the campaign of preventing Muslims from setting up shops during temple fairs after members of the Muslim community had called for a ban against the Karnataka High Court’s judgement upholding the government’s ban on hijabs in educational institutions.
DK district Beedhibadhi Vyaparasthara Shreyobhivruddhi Sangha Honorary President B.K. Imthiyaz said vested interests were targeting vendors in order to divide people on communal lines in both districts.