BJP State president V. Muraleedharan called on the people on Friday to oppose the Central government’s alleged move to take possession of gold in temples to tide over the financial crisis.
In a statement in Thiruvananthapuram, the BJP State president said that the invaluable gold collections in temples in the State including the Sri Pamanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram belonged to the temples. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had for the first time sought accounts about the gold from devaswom boards and other temple trusts. This was aimed at either selling them to buy dollar or showing the accounts to the international community as gold reserves to secure the country’s finances.
Mr. Muraleedharan said that the financial crisis was the result of corruption, bad governance and subservience to foreign powers. The majority community was concerned about the demand by RBI and attempt to exploit believers.
He urged that the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy should come forward to address the concerns and take up the matter with the Central government. The devaswom boards should not provide the information sought by RBI under pressure from the government, as the RBI had no powers to seek them.
