NEW DELHI: Spiritual guru and former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Saturday said that those who do not have faith in the deity and beliefs should not be allowed to work in agencies involved in the upkeep of holy places like the Tirupati shrine.
“Just as mosques don’t employ people who consume liquor or even deny entry to such people, Tirupati or other temples should be no-entry zones for people who do not respect the holy cow revered by Hindus, ” Acharya Pramod Krishnam told IANS.
By seeking a ban on non-Hindus workers’ entry, the spiritual guru endorsed a call by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Board chief B. R. Naidu, who has also called for ensuring that only Hindus are employed by the Board.
“I agree with the remarks made by TTD Board chief, ” he said.
The spiritual guru, who was expelled from the Congress in February for allegedly criticising his own party, said that Tirumala was a revered place of worship for Hindus and those who have "no faith in our deity, ethos and beliefs should not be allowed to work there."
The spiritual leader said that as a follower of Sanatan Dharma, he welcomed Naidu’s suggestion to bar non-Hindus from working at the TTDB premises.
Naidu’s comments have kicked up a storm in political circles in Andhra Pradesh as he also suggested shifting non-Hindu employees of TTD Board to other departments or offering them voluntary retirement.
The former Congress leader also hit out at the politics of making “fake promises” and, in a veiled manner, criticised Congress-led state governments like Himachal Pradesh for struggling to deliver on poll promises due to financial constraints.
He said public faith in democracy was getting eroded due to the fashion among politicians to offer freebies that were impossible to deliver.
“Sometimes they say money will be transferred to voters’ bank account, sometimes they offer car, motorcycle or laptop… this is nothing but cheating, ” said Acharya Pramod Krishnam.
The former Congress leader said, “There is no harm in making electoral promises, but these should be realistic and making unachievable promises amounts to cheating the public.”