Social Activist Lolaksha appeals to Temple Management and Devotees to invite DC AB Ibrahim as Chief Guest for Temple Festival
Mangaluru: Lolaksha, a well-known social activist, today made an appeal during the press meet held at Mangalore Press Club to the Management Committee and devotees of the Puttur Mahalingeshwara Temple to invite AB Ibrahim, the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada District, as the Chief Guest to the Maha Puja programme in the annual festival of Puttur Mahalingeshwara Temple.
He stated that, ‘this step is essential to prove to the world at large that they are not intolerant, but only asserted the right to freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution and The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, from illegal encroachment by the State and AB Ibrahim, as Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate without any jurisdiction’.
Lolaksha has welcomed the stand taken by the State Government before the Karnataka High Court, accepting the mistake committed by the DC and the decision of the High Court to re-print the Temple festival Invitation without his name and distribute it to the general public. Lolaksha, a staunch critic of Caste System and practise of untouchability, has today appreciated the ‘Hindu’ petitioners and their advocates for their serious efforts in getting justice on time through Court of Law and the leaders and the devotees of the temple who managed to have peaceful protests against this ‘illegal encroachment’.
Lolaksha has asserted that not only a Muslim or Christian but even a Jain, Sikh or Buddhist can’t perform duties under the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997. Any officer or a servant who belongs to a particular caste in the Hindu religion is only eligible to perform his duties under the Act. Hence, the interference by AB Ibrahim is not only contrary to the provision of law, but considered an illegal encroachment of the right to freedom of religion without any legal authority.
Lolaksha, who is also a recipient of prestigious Dr. BR Ambedkar State Award for social service, clarified that the eligibility, powers and area jurisdictions conferred under the Endowment Act to Deputy Commissioners, Asst Commissioners and Tahsildars are totally different from Revenue Department officers. They can’t be equated or confused one with another.The posts of Deputy Commissioner, the Asst Commissioner and the Tahsildar in the Endowment department are being held by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Asst Commissioner (Mangaluru Subdivision) and an independent Tahsildar respectively for the entire district jurisdiction.
Lolaksha also stated that the Endowment Act is an important legal instrument to bring about certain changes in the structure of Hindu Institutions, which strongly believes in caste based inequality and discrimination have religious sanctity and help the democratization process in their religious practises and appealed to various sections of society who supported Ibrahim, to read the Endowment Act carefully and uphold Rule of law in the best interests of the society instead of branding people without understanding the complexities involved in various issues.
Raja Pallamajal, the district President, DK, Karnataka Dalit Mahasabha was also present in the Press Meet.
