Bengaluru: All India Imams Council has urged the Karnataka government to extend to Muslim clerics and Christian priests the Covid relief compensation now given to Hindu priests.
The Karnataka “government should immediately declare compensation to the staff and priests of mosques and churches, who are distraught due to lock down and help them financially,” says Maulana Ateeque Ur Rehman Ashrafi president of the council’s Karnataka unit.
He was referring to the southern Indian state government announcing Covid lockdown compensation to priests and staff of Hindu temples who are in financial difficulty as the temples are closed for public/
The Muslim leader quoted media reports to says that the government has set apart 334.5 million rupees for the project in addition to 45 million rupees yearly compensation.
“The government has also ordered to provide food kits to the priests of Hindu temples. But no compensation is announced for Imams and Muazzins of mosques or priests and staff of churches. This shows the religious intolerance of the state government,” the maulana said in a press release on May 24.
According to him, the government should provide compensation on humanitarian grounds and not religion-based politics.
“In addition to treating all the religious personnel equally, the government should ensure that equal justice is provided to all,” he asserted.
Source: daijiworld.com