God meets Mammon

The latest controversy involving the Shahi Imam and the Wakf Board is repeating an eerily familiar pattern. Historically venerable religious...

The latest controversy involving the Shahi Imam and the Wakf Board is repeating an eerily familiar pattern. Historically venerable religious institutions and authorities are accused of serious financial misappropriations and procedural improprieties. Charges of corruption and mishandling of accounts are freely traded. Public Interest Litigation is filed alleging an unholy nexus of property mafias, local government officials and religious authorities. The Shahi Imam is accused of using a monument of incalculable importance as his private property. The court has to order police protection for key officials of the Wakf Board, while investigations continue. And, meanwhile, an old question is reopened: who should control the Jama Masjid?

The courts will hopefully bring some clarity to this matter. But the increasing trend of our important religious endowments and trusts coming under litigation should be extremely worrying. It suggests that the transparency and accountability within these institutions is fast breaking down. The Supreme Court has rightly held that religious institutions should be held accountable for their dealings in that most secular of domains: money and property. If these institutions fail to regulate themselves properly, it will only invite greater state intervention, as is happening in the case of numerous religious endowments across the country. But such intervention runs the risk of politicising these institutions. Prudence demands that both the Shahi Imam and the Wakf Board do their utmost to convince the public that their financial conduct is above board. They would better serve their constituents if they put in more effort at making themselves accountable to their constituents than trading charges in public.

As the Shankaracharya found out, the encounter between godly institutions and Mammon is a very treacherous affair indeed. If religious institutions are to preserve their autonomy they should become an example of proper self regulation.