Seer Narendra Giri's Death Shows How Temple Offerings Are Misused: Digvijaya Singh

Congress MP Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said the "mysterious" death of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri shows the misuse of offerings made at temples.

The seer, who was the president of the largest organisation of sadhus in India, was found hanging at Baghambari Math in Uttar Pradesh by his disciples on Monday.

The late seer's disciple Anand Giri was detained in Haridwar after a purported suicide note was found, in which the seer wrote that Anand Giri was trying to blackmail him using a morphed picture of a woman. A case of abetting suicide was lodged against Anand Giri.

"It is said that Narendra Giri took the extreme step leaving behind a suicide note which the UP police is investigating. But, what he wrote in his suicide note is a matter of concern that how money offered in temples and "maths" are being misused...How corruption is marring the purchase and sale of property (of temples)," Mr Singh told reporters in Sehore, about 40 km from Bhopal.

Mr Singh said some pictures of Anand Giri surfaced recently showed he wanted to become a film star and not a seer.

"A person has to sacrifice everything when he becomes a seer. Our religion moves forward with sacrifice. Salvation is attained through sacrifice. But, he (Anand Giri) was enjoying good vehicles. Even women complained when he had gone to Australia," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Mr Singh said Anand Giri even made a "fake video of his guru with women".

"Is this Hindutva? We are concerned about the way religion is being misused. Corruption is also there in the purchase of land for Ram temple (in Ayodhya)," he said.

Mr Singh claimed Narendra Giri himself wrote (in the suicide note) that Anand Giri used to take money from the offerings made to the "math".

"This is not good for religion," he said.

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