It has come to people’s attention that the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has allegedly declared a holiday on 17 June 2024, coinciding with the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha (Bakrid), also known as the Feast of Sacrifice.
It is noteworthy that according to the TN HRCE Act of 1959, there are no provisions empowering secular officials of the HR&CE Department to organize or supervise festivals in Hindu Temples. Even appointed Executive Officers are authorized solely to only manage temple properties. They have administrative powers limited to temple assets and no authority over religious functions, rituals, or festivals. Netizens criticized the government’s decision to grant leave for the celebration of another religion’s festival by the department as unfounded and inappropriate under the existing legal framework.
Temple activist TR Ramesh expressed his disapproval, stating, “The offices of the @tnhrcedept which illegally controls thousands of Hindu Religious Institutions in Tamil Nadu – which has placed 100s of its servants as Executive Officers in Hindu Temples – without any legally valid orders of appointments – ever issued are closed today due to Bakra EID also known Qurban Eid Just for your information. You cannot find more secular administrators of Temples elsewhere.“
The offices of the @tnhrcedept which illegally controls thousands of Hindu Religious Institutions in Tamil Nadu – which has placed 100s of its servants as Executive Officers in Hindu Temples – without any legally valid orders of appointments – ever issued… pic.twitter.com/zLPKs4Ko26
— trramesh (@trramesh) June 17, 2024
While the official website of the HR&CE department lacks circulars or orders in English beyond 2022 and in Tamil beyond 2023, it is difficult to definitively verify or refute the claim made by temple activists that TNHR&CE has declared a holiday for executives working within temple administration on Bakrid. It was pointed out that under the HRCE Act of 1959, Section 8 delineates the classes of authorities including the Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners, and Assistant Commissioners, with no mention of Executive Officers. Moreover, Section 10 of the Act specifies that all officers appointed under its purview must be followers of the Hindu religion and shall vacate their office upon ceasing to profess that faith. This highlights the Act’s explicitly non-secular nature as it mandates officials to be Hindu practitioners.
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