The Endowments Department should appoint people with some knowledge and respect for Hindu religion on the boards of temples, Sreepeetham pontiff Swami Paripoornananda said.
The government also has to take steps to ensure that the temples are run by people with knowledge and respect for religion and not treat it as a political reward, he said. He was addressing the media here on Thursday after a Uttarandhra Sadhu Dharma Chintan organised at the Sreepeetham in the wake of recent attacks on Hindu religion by some elements.
Referring to the recent hate speech by MIM MLA Akbaruddin, the seer said that this appeared to be a part of a larger conspiracy to attack Hinduism. He advised the MIM leadership to note the furore their statements created and exercise restraint in future.
The government should take firm steps to stop religious conversions, he demanded and said that the neighbouring countries were looking to attack India. He urged the religious leaders to pray for the victory of India in the eventuality of war.
Meeting
He asked the religious leaders to come together under the umbrella of Hindu Rakshana Vedika and work together to protect and promote Hindu Dharma. The Vedika would organise meetings of Sadhus and Swamis in each district and chalk out an action plan to protect and revive Hinduism in the State. In the first phase a network of Hindu religious leaders from Srikakulam to Krishna district would be formed, he explained. After the meeting of the Hindu Dharmic leaders, it was decided to appoint Siva Chaitanya Mataji as coordinator for the seven districts, Pramod Chaitanya Swami convenor, Srinivasananda Saraswati in-charge of Srikakulam district, Narasimha Bharati for Vizianagaram district and Poornananda Saraswati for Visakhapatnam district. Swami Paripoornananda later prayed at the temple of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swami at Simhachalam for peace and communal harmony.
