WHY TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR FORTUNES HIDDEN BEHIND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS?
Recent searches conducted in Sri Anandapadmanabhan temple [Trivandrum]vaults has come out with hidden wealth, which can not be valued at its face value as the treasure belongs to an era which is thousands or at least hundreds of years old hence, the antique value can only be assumed [A rough estimate puts it around $50 billions] and the search is not completely over yet, much more may come out in the open.
Second revelation of recent time was the Sathya Sai Baba Trust, which again has so much wealth hidden and open, all of which does require any declaration what so ever, neither the source nor the volume, under our rules governing the charitable and religious trusts acts. The whole fund is free from any income tax, as are the cases of millions of our country’s Trusts in India which itself is basically wrong, since the government squeezes blood and sweat of those people with an income of more than Rs.150000/- per year [Govt. servants and the common salaried class]
These trusts are the parking place for all ill gotten money from our system, looted out through corrupt politicians or even through terrorists activities by most illegal and banned organizations being run around the globe in the name of charity and supposed to be meant for the down trodden and the poorest. Also belonging to those crooked business class, who thinks their sins can be erased by donating a sum to the temple like Tirupathi or any other religious institutions.
In reality the Government has made their job very easy with tax holidays and the unlimited cap on its income or expenditure, which has no binding rules to go through audit or publishing the activities and the details of expenditure and sources of the so called donations or donors etc. No questions asked from which country or which person it came and for the purposes for which the money is being spend or how much is really there in such entities and so on.
No religion or god has ever preached to collect taxes from the rulers or the people around the globe on his/her behalf. It is a way of keeping idle funds hidden for a time or certain undisclosed future endeavors of its real owners, which surely are not the common poor guys, but mostly belongs to those scheming bigwigs.
It is high time that our populace is turning their attention to these undisclosed fortunes which belongs to the common people of our country and not certainly the deity. Those who keep it on behalf of the deity, while denying their citizen of their basic rights, are in fact attracting the wrath of the deity itself. They sure will be the first ones to be punished for such acts, which are cruel and unethical by any god’s standards. First and foremost duty of any ruler is to ensure food, at least one meal, daily for the hungry people and water for the thirsty,then let them think of saving for the future.
May the lord show us the way to unearth such fortunes at these troubled times.
Solitairebala.
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