Devaswam Department Administering Only Hindu Temples... Does It Suit The Concept Of Democracy?

   I have been a votary of the proposition that it is wrong that the govt, perhaps only of Kerala, takes control of the administration and the huge revenue earned, in respect of the Hindu temples in the state, through a department called Devaswam. 

This is in the scenario of letting the worshipping centres of all other religions to be managed by themselves! 

Apparently this has happened in Kerala because the rulers of the princely state prior to independence were devout Hindus and they took upon themselves the responsibility of promoting the temples. When a democratic govt took over after independence the entire administration was blindly transferred to the new dispensation! No one pointed out this anomaly, not even the Hindu intelligentia, who were apparently in slumber!

The reason why the taking over of Hindu Temple Administration by the govt is unjustifiable is mainly that it is blatantly undemocratic. The additional reason is that the party in power may not be promotive of the religious beliefs and philosophy of the Hindu traditions that govern the working of the temples and hence might go counter to the ethos of Hinduism. Thus it only becomes a huge source of revenue for the govt with  miniscule  expenditure for their maintenance. It could also turn out that the party in power may be out and out agnostic in their attitude to religions, as is the case now in Kerala with the leftist parties in power. 

One way to counter the first criticism is to take over the worshipping places of other religions as well. However the govt lacks the guts to do that. If they attempt to touch the Islamic mosques or Christian churches there would be uncontrollable bloodshed, and the govt would be kicked out  of power. Even if the govt theoretically  succeeds in such an attempt the second issue still stands valid. Hindus, however, are largely a pacifist lot and lack the initiative to take up the issue legally with the Supreme Court. So they seem to be taking the present state of affairs as their fate! 

Of late after further introspection I too feel inclined to accept the existing practice to continue. My reason is the following. Whom will the govt hand over the administration if the Supreme Court passes a verdict to put an end to the govt's control over Hindu temples? The religion has no Body which has the approval of the various Castes to represent the religion. First they will have to take a united stand to elect a Body which is competent to represent them, which is a tough issue. That will need Casteism to go! Will the majority community be able to measure up to meet the challenge? How can people discard Caste when so many benefits revolve around that? The strange thing is that those who belong to the so-called 'lower'

Castes wouldn't like others to address them by their Caste denominations (it is a punishable criminal offence!), but would hold on to their Castes to enjoy the benefits thereof! 

The reservation system based on Castes which was envisaged by our Constitution makers to be in force for the first 10 years after independence has become perennial in our Vote Bank politics! The irony is that the benefits have been mostly annexed by the creamy layers in each Caste and thus have not achieved the purpose they were intended to serve. Thus we have ended up in this unsolvable conundrum of Democracy which perhaps no other democratic country in the world is a victim of !!!