Pakistan - Modi's temple gold plan may open pandora's box

Trivandrum: Historians in Kerala home to world’s richest temple fear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to monetise temple gold to check rising import of the yellow metal may open a pandora’s box.

Kerala is important in Modi’s scheme of things since the treasures already unearthed from Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple Trivandrum alone are sufficient to meet the cost of his pet bullet train project. Apart from this there are other temples like Krishna temple Guruvayoor and Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala with vast reserves of gold in the state.

However passion is high in the case of the 16th century temple in the state capital that caught global attention after discovery of the treasures hidden in subterranean vaults in the temple three years ago.

The valuables in five of the six vaults opened by a committee set up by the Supreme Court are estimated to be worth more than Rs1 trillion. This is the market price but the antique value of the items is considered to be many times more. The sixth vault which is yet to be opened is said to contain more than what is already unearthed.

While the discovery triggered a fierce debate about what should be done with this vast wealth historians fear that the gold monetisation scheme of Modi may evoke claims from various quarters. A historian associated with the temple told the Khaleej Times that a Member of the Pakistan’s National Assembly and a temple in Sri Lanka had already come forward staking claim for a part of the treasures.

The historian who did not want to be identified said that the Pakistan legislator had moved a private member’s motion in the Assembly urging the government to stake claim for the wealth as it was accumulated prior to the partition. Interestingly a Pakistan diplomat had reportedly made a secret visit to the temple soon after the treasures were unearthed. Unconfirmed reports said that Aabid Sayied a senior officer at the office of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had visited the temple along with his wife on July 19 2011.

Another distant claimant for the wealth is a temple in Western Sri Lanka which said that the riches included assets they had moved to the Padmanabhaswamy temple when a Portuguese governor went on a looting spree of temples in the region in the 17th century. The Portuguese soldiers entered the temples dressed as Iyer priests and robbed the wealth after massacring the actual priests.

However a Kerala-based historian believes that the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was originally a Buddha vihara. Late M S Jaya Prakash who retired as head of the department of History at DB College Sasthancotta said many major temples in the state were Buddha viharas.

They were converted into Hindu temples during the Aryanisation that occurred during 9th century AD. According to him the Buddhism that flourished in the southern state before the Aryanisation came from Sri Lanka where Emperor Ashoka himself propagated Buddhism accompanied by his son and daughter.

Historians fear that if the temple in Sri Lanka and the Pakistan government move the International Court of Law at Geneva the temple may get entangled in legal battles. They also expect claims from various other quarters in the country.

The neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu can also claim part of the wealth as several areas of the current Tamil Nadu was part of Travancore in 1750 when King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma surrendered his kingdom to the deity and swore that his descendants would serve the kingdom as Padmanabha dasa (servant of Padmanabha).

However legal experts discount the fears. Advocate Sivan Madathil who practise at the Kerala High Court at Cochin said that Pakistan may not be able to approach the International Court since the Indian Independence Act 1947 had clear provisions forbidding either country from staking claims over the properties in the other country post partition.

He said this would also cover treasures remained unrevealed at the time of the partition. Even if Pakistan or Lanka approaches the International Court it may not accept the petition as it has no jurisdiction over matters related to the wealth. The International Court is concerned with human rights violations. It is not likely to interfere in other subjects says the leading lawyer.

The lawyer thinks that even the claims from the neighbouring state may also not be legally sustainable as all assets in every state were transferred and vested with the respective states at the time of reorganisation of the states.

The states will be bound by the States Reorganisation Act 1956 he added.

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