Mangaluru: Seers and community heads met Union home minister Amit Shah Thursday, seeking legislation to prevent atrocities and defamation against saints and protection to religious institutions of Sanatana Dharma.Referring to the recent developments at Dharmasthala, the seers described the incident as the “most painful” and demanded that those behind the row be punished.About controversial social media content against religious heads, they contended that freedom of expression cannot be allowed to become freedom of defamation. They urged the govt to take down defamatory content within 24 hours, and impose penalties on both creators and platforms.In a memorandum to Shah and PM Narendra Modi, they sought a law modelled on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to criminalise insults, harassment, violence and defamation (offline and online) against munis, seers, acharyas, and community heads.The delegation, under the banner of Sanatana Santa Niyog, referred to the murders of seers in Maharashtra’s Palghar and the mysterious death of Acharya Shri Kamakumar Nandi Maharaj in Belagavi in 2023 and raised concerns. They termed desecration of temples and attacks on pilgrimage centres “crimes against the soul of the Hindu and Jain communities”.The delegation included Jagadguru Sri Vachananand Swami, Jagadguru Immadi Siddarameshwara Swami, Sri Shantamallikarjuna Swami, Jagadguru Purushottamananda Swami, Sri Atmaram Swami, Sri Rajashekarananda Swami, Sri Dharmasena Swami, and Sri Sourabhsen Swami.
