More state subsidy for pilgrimages or none at all? No debate in India

livemint.com, June 18 2009

Populism takes pilgrimage path

by Venkatesha Babu, Priyanka P. Narain and C.R. Sukumar

Bangalore/Mumbai/Hyderabad: Competitive populism is entering the realm of religion, a trend that critics say is a potentially dangerous political game being played with an eye on electoral gains.

Click here to watch video
http://tinyurl.com/lohbhg

State governments in a country that swears by secularism are starting to offer subsidized pilgrimages to citizens, who at election time in the past have been wooed by politicians with promises ranging from offers of rice at Rs2 per kg to free colour television sets.

Religious bandwagon

Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is the latest to join the religious bandwagon, proposing to subsidize the travel and stay of pilgrims who visit the temples of Udupi, Dharmasthala and Saudatti in the southern Indian state.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party-led government is subsidizing the cost of travel for Christians visiting Jerusalem, the holy land.
Karnataka minister for housing S.N. Krishnaiah Setty, who also heads a department that oversees Hindu temples and endowments under government control, said last week that the administration intends to set apart Rs10 crore to subsidize pilgrimages for Hindus.

He didn’t say how the money would be spent or the beneficiaries identified. “Modalities are being worked out and will be announced shortly,” Setty said.
To be sure, the concept of subsidized pilgrimages is not new. The Union government spent an estimated Rs700 crore last year on the Haj subsidy for Muslims to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Centre also underwrites a part of the cost of the annual pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet that Hindus believe is the abode of the Hindu god Shiva.

President Pratibha Patil, in her inaugural speech to the new Parliament outlining the policies of the Congress party-led coalition, said the government would strive to strengthen and “reform the management of Haj operations”.
At the heart of the debate is what it means to be a secular state—should the government be involved in all religions equally or in none at all in a country where Hindus comprise about 80% of the population, Muslims around 13% and Christians 3%?

A matter of faith: A file photo of Haj pilgrims. State governments are offering subsidies for religious pilgrimages, sparking a debate on whether the state should be be involved in all religions equally or in none at all. Amit Dave / Reuters

Rama Jois, former chief justice of the Karnataka high court and author of a special report on government presence in temples and temple trusts, says the idea of a secular government subsidizing religious travel is a dangerous one.
“Ideally, the governments should not be opening this door at all,” Jois said. “Although it is not unconstitutional for a secular state to subsidize religious travel for citizens, it must be done equally for all. But then the question is about what is equal.”
Dangerous game