Worshipping on taxpayer rupees

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Worshipping on taxpayer rupees

By: Santosh :+: Under: Opinion, Politics, Religion
On: ⋅ February 12, 2008 ⋅

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The Andhra Pradesh government will now pay Christians to visit Israel. [link]

The Andhra Pradesh government will subsidise pilgrimage trips for Christians who want to travel to Israel, officials said.
There are about 1.2 million Christians in the state, representing nearly 2 percent of the state’s population. Among them is Chief Minister Y.S. Rajsekhara Reddy.

Lest we be fooled into believing this is an arbitrary occurence, it is not. Apparently, the Central government of India already offers subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

The subsidy is being modelled on that already offered by the central government to Muslims wanting to join the annual haj pilgrimage to Mecca, according to N.D. Tiwari, the state governor, in announcing the subsidy. New Delhi even has a special haj air terminal for Muslims, who account for about 13 percent of India’s 1.1 billion population.

Predictably, the BJP has chimed in demanding subsidies for Hindus. [link]

BJP floor leader G Kishan Reddy asked why the CM hadn’t acceded to the party’s request for a subsidy to Manasarovar pilgrims in the governor’s speech. “Why should the government discriminate against the majority community when it came to such matters?” he asked.

That I’m completely against any kind of subsidies for such religious activities, be it for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Scientologists, (insert religion here) would be stating the obvious.

Irrespective of religion, what I’m taking exception to is the state using taxpayer money to ferry people between their home and the place of worship. India has a blanket “freedom of religion” clause in it’s Constitution that is regularly abused by politicians. Religion is a personal choice and one should certainly not receive any incentives from the state to practice, what can only be termed a personal choice.

What the state should do instead is to protect everyone’s right to practice their religion. The state should protect a citizen who is under threat arising from practicing a religion at his/her home, the place of worship, the path between and/or anywhere on the state’s sovereign territory. That in itself is a huge task, one at which the Indian central and state governments have repeatedly failed at. First protect them, then we shall talk about incentives.

Discussion

6 comments for “Worshipping on taxpayer rupees”

1: Runa | February 12, 2008, 4:10 pm | Direct Link

Curious to know :

Would you also be against tax relief for religious organizations? Thats what has sparked this huge protest against scientology

2: Sidhu | February 12, 2008, 4:15 pm | Direct Link

Good points. Irrespective of whether the politicians are doing it for vote-bank politics or out of love for a particular religion(!), once you bring such subsidies into the system, no successor will even think about stopping what is already being practiced. Technically speaking, any subsidy for Hindus would put a lot of financial strain because of the sheer number of followers, hence it may be difficult to consider subsidies for Hindus. Moreover, almost all places of importance to Hindus are within the country, so someone asking for Manasarovar, might prompt someone else to prompt for Sabarimalai. The government can issue subsidies to travel to “most favored nations” for small business or similar type of developmental activities that are non-religious , it’s a sad state of affairs to see the government wasting the tax payer’s money to project itself as “secular”.

On a lighter note, who knows Scientology followers in India might get “subsidized” tickets to Hollywood, California. No?

3: Lekhni | February 12, 2008, 6:13 pm | Direct Link

Will they pay me to visit Tirupati then? Whom should I write to for tickets to India?

4: Santosh | February 12, 2008, 11:15 pm | Direct Link

Runa,

Would you also be against tax relief for religious organizations?

Depends. My understanding is that they’re treated on par with non-profits. The question becomes are they similar to other non-profits? I think it’s definitely worth taking a look at whether the tax exempt status should be extended to religious organizations.

Thats what has sparked this huge protest against scientology

Scientology is a very controversial religion. Yes, I do consider them a religion because they seem to have more than their fair share of zealots. I think tax breaks are the least of their worries right now.

Sidhu,

once you bring such subsidies into the system, no successor will even think about stopping what is already being practiced.

What they need to do is when they extend subsidies, they should be required to renew them every year or so. Somewhere along the line bureaucracy will take care of it.

Lekhni,
That’s a nice idea. I’ll apply for a ticket to Siddhivinayak in Mumbai myself. Mumbai is also a very dangerous town so that criteria is also satisfied.

5: Runa | February 13, 2008, 2:13 pm | Direct Link

Yes, I do consider them a religion

So do I .As far as they are not doing anything illegal - I don’t knwo why people don’t leave them alone !

6: Rahul | February 13, 2008, 10:34 pm | Direct Link

As a dissolute immoral atheist, can I get my weekly trek to the local bar subsidized? Alternatively, I will accept a subscription service to Tirupati ladoos.

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