Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Sadhus upset over GO on Tirumala boundaries

Special Correspondent

`Tirupati Declaration' adopted, deadline set for rectifying `distortions'

ON THE WARPATH: Mathadhipathis and Sadhus taking out a rally in Tirupati on Saturday.

TIRUPATI: The controversial G.O issued by the State Government reportedly restricting the jurisdiction of the Tirumala temple (TTD) to only 10 and 1/3 sq km around the shrine snowballed into such a major controversy that the sadhus and sanths, Mathadhipathis and Peethadhipaties, besides a number of pro-active Hindu organisations on Saturday converged in Tirupati to demand the immediate withdrawal of the contentious order.

What kicked off the row was the apprehension among devotees and the various Hindu organisations that in the wake of the G.O , Tirumala would no longer remain the sacred `Seven Hills' as it is being called, from the days of the yore but would have to be content with only two hills as the remaining five would go out of its purview.

A `Sankalpa Diwas' (the day to take a pledge) was held under the banner of the `Tirumala Tirupati Samrakashna Samithi' with the Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, Udipi to protest against the GO. The meet also expressed its deep concern over the reported increase in evangelical activities at Tirumala and Tirupati and quoted experts in this connection from the report submitted by the five-member fact finding committee appointed by the pontiff of Pejawar with Justice Bikshapathi, former High Court Judge as its head.

Court ruling cited

The meet cited a High Court ruling which said "the rights of Tirumala-Tirupati vest with Lord Venkateswara himself and the trust board and the EO are only trustees of the property. None can take any measures violating the right. All the seven hills fall under Tirumala (W.P.No:26145 OF 1996-97(2) ald 59 (db) DT.7.9.96.

Besides Pejawar Swamiji, the summit was attended among others by Sri Dayananda Saraswathi, founder of the Arsha Vidya Peetham, Varada Ramanuja Jeeyar from Uttar Pradesh and members of the fact finding committee -- T.S. Rao, retired DGP, R. Srihari, former V-C of the Dravidian University, Krishnaiah, State BC welfare leader. The meeting adopted five major resolutions concerning the entire gamut of the issue and also set August 9 as the deadline for the Government/TTD to remove all `distortions' failing which it threatened that the entire `Hindu samaj' would raise in revolt for a second `yatra' apparently referring to the `Ayodhya Rath Yatra'.

The summit also passed a `Tirupati Declaration' to fight against the organisations, Government, political parties and media which worked against the interest of the `Hindu society'.

Resolutions

As for the resolutions adopted amidst shouts of `Govinda-Govinda' from the participants, the first one wanted that the State Government enact a new law declaring that Tirumala meant `Seven Hills' after duly rectifying the `flaw' in its earlier GO. By the second resolution, the sadhus summit called upon the TTD to dismiss all non-Hindu staff members from Tirumala as, under the TTD manual, only Hindus should be appointed in the TTD. The meet expressed anguish that as many as 40 Christians posted as TTD employees were allegedly celebrating `their' festivals and religious activities on the hills.

By another resolution the meet criticised the State Government's move to convert Tirupati/Tirumala into a tourist destination. It also adopted a resolution demanding a ban on evangelical activities in the TTD-run educational and medical institutions.

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