Uproar over Indian Hindu temple’s suspension of Christian employees

Church leaders have criticized the authorities of one of India’s most famous Hindu temples for suspending four employees because of their Christian faith. The managers of the Sri Venkates-wara temple, popularly known as the Tirupati temple, in southern Andhra Pradesh state, announced on July 19 the suspension of employees for “following other religions.” The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), a trust managed under the state govern-ment, manages the temple, billed as India’s most popular and richest.
“The employees were reportedly following the Christian faith, which violates the code of conduct,” of the temples, TTD said in a statement posted on social media. The decision was taken following a vigilance report and review of supporting evidence, the trust said. The temple report-edly owns assets and properties worth about US$30 billion, making it one of the richest in the world. The TTD’s administrative board manages 12 temples and sub-shrines, employing some 14,000 people. Father Robinson Rodri-gues, public relations officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), termed the deci-sion a violation of constitutional rights.