Chief Minister Naidu’s ‘politically charged’ claim has sent the nation into a tizzy, and behind the outrage is a lobby that wants to take over Hindu temples as a political statement.
Published Sep 21, 2024 | 9:46 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2024 | 9:21 PM
Andhra Pradesh CM's review on TTD: WhatsApp services to be introduced soon(TTD website)
A chief minister’s big claim, an inconclusive lab report that is deliberately being misread, a lot of noise over faith and religious beliefs but no logical application of mind or asking the right questions to the right people — that, in a nutshell, is all about the Tirupati laddu row.
Ever since Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made a “shocking” claim of animal fat being used in preparing Tirumala laddu, the nation has gone into a tizzy. Loud television anchors armed themselves with a lab report that “confirmed” the presence of adulterants to insist Naidu’s claim was right.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had used the same report in July to flag vegetable fat adulteration in ghee and reject the consignment before blacklisting the supplier.
Right after Naidu’s big claim, TTD once again referred to the same report to reiterate that the consignment was neither accepted nor used in the making of laddus. However, this time, vegetable fat upgraded itself to ‘animal fat’ to fall in line with a narrative of ‘Hindus and their faith are in danger’.
Simple and logical questions — why the Andhra Pradesh government or TTD refused to act since July, whether the adulterated ghee was indeed used or not, what did the lab report say — didn’t find any space. These questions were not asked or answered either in the studios of the screaming anchors or in the world of keypad warriors on social media.
Even as the political slugfest between YSRCP and TDP continued, one lobby’s narrative was becoming loud and clear. This lobby has only one goal: taking over control of Hindu temples that are being administered by endowments departments of governments.
For decades now, right-wing organisations like the RSS and VHP have been vehemently pushing for non-government entities to over temples in the country. For RSS’ political wing, the BJP, pushing for private entities to take over public places like temples has been a recurring election plank. The impression of temples being “controlled” or “ensnared” by governments makes for the perfect communally emotive trigger that brings electoral dividends.
Whether Naidu’s claim of animal fat in Tirumala laddu was a gaffe, political bravado, or a deliberate statement, it further fuelled the lobby pushing to take over temples. Damage control soon turned into a ripe opportunity to whip up sentiments and turn the row into an emotional issue rather than asking the right questions and seeking accountability from those who were in power when the adulterated consignment was supplied.
Andhra Pradesh’s Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan was among the first to give away the plot.
In an X post, Kalyan called for a national-level ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ to look into all issues related to temples in the country. He knew his audience. He quickly followed up the English post with a Hindi one.
Hindi posts are a recent addition to Kalyan’s social media accounts whenever he speaks of a non-Andhra issue.
Within no time, hundreds of social media handles joined the chorus for “the need to free Hindu temples from government control”. Currently, most temples in India, other than those built by private persons, are managed through officials appointed by the Hindu religious and charitable endowments departments.
Bigger and more popular temples like TTD have autonomous trusts and boards where members from the government are also appointed.
Lest one forgets, TDP and JSP are in alliance with BJP, both in Andhra Pradesh and the Centre. It is expected of allies to further each others’ political interests.
Amid all the noise over animal fat in Tirupati laddu, and despite the TTD clarifying that adulterated ghee was never accepted or used, several news channels too ran back-to-back programmes asking if it was time for temples to be removed from government supervision.
पिछली सरकार के कार्यकाल दौरान, तिरुपति बालाजी प्रसाद में पशु मेद (मछली का तेल, सूअर की चर्बी और बीफ़ वसा) मिलाए जाने की बात के संज्ञान में आने से हम सभी अत्यंत विक्षुब्ध हैं। तत्कालीन वाईसीपी (YCP) सरकार द्वारा गठित टीटीडी (TTD) बोर्ड को कई सवालों के जवाब देने होंगे! इस सन्दर्भ… https://t.co/SA4DCPZDHy
— Pawan Kalyan (@PawanKalyan) September 20, 2024
This discussion is in a country where sections of people are punished for entering temples and offering prayers. A Dalit man was tied up and thrashed by the so-called caste Hindus for entering a temple in Bagalkot. Further, Dalits in the village were banned from entering lanes where caste Hindus reside.
It was only after the government’s intervention that the law took its course. Temples continue to be a tool of discrimination in several parts of India under the oppressive Hindu caste system.
Caste and communal hatred found their way into the Tirumala laddu controversy too. If some handles insisted that Brahmins alone should lead rituals in temples, others were convinced that animal fat was indeed used in the prasadams to violate Hindu beliefs by ‘vested interests’, even as others wondered how Muslims would feel if lard — pork fat — was used in their places of worship.
More handles called for mass riots over the “desecration”. All of these emotionally charged narratives missed one vital point: Was adulterated ghee used in the preparation of the laddus? According to the TTD, it is a categoric no.
The noise didn’t allow for any logical or scientific assessment of the viral lab report. Even as experts pointed to the report being inconclusive at best and inadequate at worst, the narrative of ‘Hindus under attack’ continued unabated. Whatever little attempts were made to make sense of the lab reports, soon went missing.
Take for example a conversation uploaded on a YouTube channel, ‘Dairy news 7*7’, run by Kuldeep Sharma, who calls himself a ‘dairy guru’. The show saw Dr KD Aparnathi, Professor and Head (Retd), Dairy Chemistry, Anand Agriculture University, questioning the veracity of the viral lab results.
Dr Aparnathi asserted that the report was inconclusive and at best only pointed to vegetable fat adulteration and suggested further tests to determine other adulterants. The video of the conversation has, for either reasons of pressure or otherwise, since been taken down from YouTube.
South First reached out to Sharma to inquire about the missing video. While he was unreachable, his staff members assured that a new version would soon be uploaded.
While shouting matches of blame game and zero accountability are being shared widely, a show that raised scientific questions on the row, is no longer available.
After all the sound and fury, Andhra Pradesh government still has some questions to answer. Who is correct? Is it Naidu, who claimed animal fat was used in laddus or TTD, which said adulterated ghee wasn’t accepted or used. The consignment was sent in June-July when NDA was in power in Andhra Pradesh, so who is accountable for the mishandling, if any. Why did TTD in July claim the adulteration was with vegetable fat and used the same lab report to change its stance to ‘animal fat’ after Naidu claimed so?
If the presence of animal fat is indeed true, why did neither the TDP-led government nor TTD administration take any action for months? Was this entire row a ploy to further political interests at the cost of millions of believers?
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
