Temples and all other places of worship, which remained closed in the wake of Covid 19-triggered lockdown imposed in the State in March this year, will reopen in Maharashtra from Monday, amid the comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put in place by the state government.
After weeks of political acrimony which saw the Opposition BJP slam his government and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and he exchange barbs over the delay in the reopening of temples, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray chose the occasion of Diwali on Saturday to announce the reopening of places of worship from November 16 (Monday).As per the protocols announced by the state government, no physical offerings like Prasad/distribution or sprinkling of holy water are allowed, while wearing masks/face covers are a must. Similarly, no singing groups or choirs will be allowed inside the place of worship, while social distancing norms, use of alcohol-based sanitizers, respiratory etiquettes and use of individual prayer mats have been recommended for both the devotees and those working at the places of worship.
Significantly enough, persons aged above 65 years with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below 10 years of age have been advised not to enter places of worship. The state government has advised the devotees as well as people working at the places of worship. Those managing the places of worship will have to adhere to the number of devotees, space and distance protocol through an undertaking to the police and local collector.
Making an announcement about the reopening of places of worship with a note of caution, Uddhav said: “We should not forget that the demon Coronavirus is still in our midst. Even though there has been some respite, we can ill-afford to be complacent. Citizens need to follow discipline when the places of worship reopen”.
Uddhav said that though all places of religious worship remained during the pandemic months, God was taking care of all devotees in the form of doctors, nurses and other health staff.
The chief minister said that the people from religious faiths celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Pandharpur wari (annual pilgrimage), Eid, Mount Mary etc by observing discipline, restraint and following Covid-19 protocol norms enforced by the state government.
“People will have to avoid crowding at the places of worship. The reopening of religious places is not a government order, but is being done as the wish of the Almighty. The devotees will have to leave their shoes outside, while the wearing of masks is mandatory.... If we follow discipline, we will get God's blessings,” the chief minister said.
Uddhav’s announcement was in line with the indication that he had given during the previous webcast address to the people across the state, when he had said that the SOPs were being prepared and a decision in this regard would be taken during or after Diwali.
The reopening of the places of worship, especially temples, had become a major bone of contention between the Opposition BJP ( and Hindu organisations) and the ruling Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA). So much so that even the Governor had taken serious objection to the MVA government’s delay in reopening the places of worship, especially temples.
It may be recalled that on October 12, Governor Koshyari had shot off a letter to Uddhav Thackeray, questioning the latter’s Hindutva credentials and wondering if Uddhav was receiving any “divine premonition” to keep postponing the re-opening of the places of worship time and again or whether he suddenly turned “secular”.
Uddhav, who normally does not agitated over the criticism directed at him or his government, hit back at Koshyari on Tuesday with vehemence, saying that he did not need any certificate for his being practitioner of Hindutva from the Governor and asking the latter if the latter meant “merely opening of temple means Hindutva and not opening means secular”.
In a related development, an understandably upset NCP chief Sharad Pawar, whose party is one of the three constituents in the MVA government in the state, shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, throwing his weight behind the chief minister, questioning the contents of the letter written by Koshyari to the chief minister and the “intemperate” language in it, saying that the Governor's letter to the chief minister “invokes the connotation as if it is written to the leader of a political party”.
Koshyari -- whose conduct had come in for severe flak in November last year after the hasty manner in which he had sworn in the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister of Maharashtra apparently at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre – appeared to exceeded his brief as the Governor, if one were go by the contents of his letter to the chief minister.
In his letter, Koshyari wrote to Udhav: “You have been a strong votary of Hindutva, you had publicly espoused your devotion for lord Rama by visiting Ayodhya after taking charge as CM, you had visited the Vitthal Rukmini Mandir, Pandharpur and performed the puja on Ashadhi Ekadashi...I wonder if you are receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing the re-opening of places of worship time and again or have you suddenly turned `secular’ yourselves (sic), the term you hated?”.
Taking offence to the Governor’s invocation of the words “Hindutva” and “secular”, Uddhav shot back in his reply: “True. I practise Hindutva. But, I do not require a certificate from you. Nor do I require such certificates from anyone. The act of according rousing welcome to a person who termed my state or my state capital as Pak-Occupied Kashmir (POK) does not fit into my concept of Hindutva”. Through this statement, Uddhav was apparently taking a potshot at Koshyari for meeting actress Kangana Ranaut after her controversial comment of comparing Mumbai to POK.
On Koshyari’s comment if Uddhav was receiving any “divine premonition” to keep postponing the reopening of the place of worship time and again and his sarcastic poser to him if he had suddenly turned secular, Uddhav was emphatic when he wrote: “Why this question has come to your mind. Do you feel that merely opening a temple means Hindutva and not opening means secular? As Governor you took oath of office and secrecy as per the provisions of the constitution, which is based on secularism. Do you agree with that secularism?”
Uddhav had gone on to add: “You have asked me if I am receiving any divine premonition. You must have personal experience of divine premonition, I have absolutely no idea, I am not that big. I am studying what’s happening in other states and trying to implement what is better for Maharashtra’’.