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| - Fact Check: Kerala didn't bring in new law saying temples can be controlled by non-Hindus
A viral post on social media claims that the Kerala government has brought in a new law under which temples can be controlled by Muslims or Christians.
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India Today Fact Check
The Kerala government never introduced such a law.
On Monday, the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the right of management of the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The apex court upheld the right of the erstwhile Travancore royal family in the administration of the temple, bringing an end to the decade-long legal battle between the royal family and the Kerala government over the temple’s control.
Meanwhile, a viral post on social media claims that the Kerala government has brought in a new law under which temples can be controlled by Muslims or Christians.
Facebook page “Ankur Arya Fans” posted the viral claim in Hindi which translates to, “Kerala government makes a new law. Hindu temples can now be controlled and headed by Muslims and Christians. Hindus are being treated as outsiders in their own country. Can they give control of a mosque or church to Hindus?”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be false. The Kerala government has introduced no such law that allows non-Hindus to control temples.
The viral claim is being shared with a collage of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and a temple. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA probe
We could not come across any order from the Kerala government or high court supporting the claim. Also, no local or national media has reported on a government rule that gives administrative power over Hindu temples to other religious communities.
Kerala has a Devaswom system, according to which, most temples are either managed by the state government-controlled Devaswom or formed by private bodies. Nearly 3,000 temples have the Devaswom commissioner as their chief executive officer. Members of the Devaswom board are elected by Hindu legislators of the Kerala assembly.
Triggering a public debate, a rumour had spread in 2018 that the Kerala government has decided to appoint non-Hindus as commissioners to its five Devaswom boards. However, we found an article by “The Times of India” which says the government informed the high court that no such move was made. The government also said it has not decided to make such appointments in the future as well.
According to “The News Minute”, in 2017, a Travancore Devaswom Board member by the name Ajay Tharayil had opined that non-Hindus should also be permitted in temple trusts. However, the then Devaswom Board president clarified to the media that it alone cannot take such decisions.
Therefore, the claim that Kerala has introduced a law wherein non-Hindus can become chairmen of temple trusts is false. Also, the image of the temple used in the viral post did not resemble the architectural style of Kerala’s temples. Using reverse image search, we found it is the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in New Delhi.
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