NCM backs Buddhists' demand for control of Mahabodhi temple

New Delhi, May 8 (UNI) The Buddhists' demand for control of one of their most holy sites-- the 1500-year-old Mahabodhi temple in Gaya town of Bihar --has been taken up by the National Minorities Commission(NCM) and it has decided to write to the state Government in this connection.

The place is significant because it was here that 2500 years ago that Buddha attained enlightenment under a banyan tree, called the Bodhi tree.

''We have decided to seek the Law Ministry's opinion and also to write to the Bihar Government urging it to concede the Buddhists longstanding demand for control over the affairs of the shrine by amending the Mahabodhi Temple Management Act, 1949,'' NCM Member Lama Chosphel Zotpa told UNI.

Under the 1949 Act, the temple's affairs are to be managed by a committee of nine members, five of whom are to be Hindus, including the head of the committee. The Buddhists claim that they are deprived of any say in managing their most sacred shrine, said Mr Zotpha.

The set up under the Act requires the chairman of the committee to be the district magistrate. If the DM does not happen to be a Hindu, the state government may nominate some other official, who is a Hindu, to chair the committee, Mr Zotpha said.

This situation is considered very unjust and unconstitutional by Buddhists as under Article 26 of the Constitution, followers of a faith have the right to manage their religious institutions.

The Article says that ''subject to public order, morality andhealth, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes; to manage its own affairs in matters of religion.'' He said the demand has been raised by various Buddhists bodies from time to time.

''It is only in the case of Buddhists that it is happening because followers of all other minority faiths, whether Muslims or Christians, have control over the affairs of their religious institutions,'' he said.

The Budhists demand the scrapping of the Temple Act of 1949 as it was against the provisions of the Constitution. The Constitution came into force in 1950 and the Act a year earlier, so its provisions regarding freedom to manage one's religious institutions should overrride anyother existing law, the NCM Member pointed out.

Some Buddhist leaders have been alleging that the temple management committee was not properly maintaining the sacred place.

Organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have been opposing any amendment in the Temple Management Act as they claim the site belongs to Hindus also as ''Buddhism was part of Hinduism.'' UNESCO has declared the Mahabodhi temple a World Heritage Site.The temple is visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world every year.

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