Kerala devaswom minister and a member of the ruling party K Radhakrishnan, on Monday, condemned former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra’s comment that communist governments were trying to take over temples because of their revenue.
In a statement, Radhakrishnan said that the judge’s remark was misleading and not at all factual. He said that the communist party in Kerala did not take over any temple—it had only fought for the rights of all sections of the community to offer prayers and protect their faiths and beliefs.
“The (Left Democratic Front) government not only did not take away any temple’s revenues, it even offered financial support to the temples that were struggling to meet routine expenses when their revenues were affected during the pandemic, and natural calamities. A total of Rs 449 crore was given by the government to various devaswoms during 2018–22,” he said.
The minister also said that the former Supreme court judge might have been influenced by the misleading campaigns by extreme Hindu outfits, which showed the LDF government as taking away temples’ revenue. “Such statements also made it clear how the mindset of Malhotra worked while serving as SC judge,” said Radhakrishnan.
Malhotra’s comments were revealed recently when a video footage of Malhotra addressing a section of people during a recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram was made public.
Malhotra was a member of the five-member bench that allowed entry of women of all ages to Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala in 2018. She was, however, the lone member to take a dissenting view against allowing women of all ages to the hill shrine.
She was also a member of the two-member bench comprising Chief Justice U U Lalit that upheld the rights of Travancore Royal Family over the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, which is known for priceless treasures in its chambers.