Hundreds of priests staged a sit-in protest in front of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, demanding salaries like the Muslim clerics. The group of protesters also included people from the temple cell of the Delhi BJP. The video of the protest is also making rounds on social media.
दिल्ली बीजेपी के मंदिर प्रकोष्ठ का आज CM अरविंद केजरीवाल आवास के सामने हनुमान चालीसा के साथ किया धरना प्रदर्शन, माँग की गई कि दिल्ली सरकार मौलवियों की तर्ज़ पर पुजारियों का वेतन भी तय करें @BJP4Delhi #dharna #pujariprotest #socialmedia #delhi #BJP @ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/XDTgrb8r44
— Nedrick News (@nedricknews) February 7, 2023
In the viral video, priests can be seen staging a sit-in protest in front of Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. The priests chanted Hanuman Chalisa during the protest.
पुजारियों के मासिक वेतन के लिए भाजपा मंदिर प्रकोष्ठ का विशाल धरना प्रदर्शन। @Virend_Sachdeva @RamvirBidhuri @ManojTiwariMP @rameshbidhuri https://t.co/VU5DxcsSPZ
— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) February 7, 2023
The priests say that the sit-in protest will continue until the Delhi government pays them salaries and works to protect Sanatan Dharma. They also said, “We want to tell this government that this is the voice of all the priests. We will show them the strength of Sanatan Dharma in 2024. All those who are connected are Sanatan. This is the call of Sanatan Dharma. Come to your senses and pay the salary of the priests.”
केजरीवाल के घर बाहर बीजेपी के पुजारियों का प्रदर्शन..
— India TV Hindi (@IndiaTVHindi) February 7, 2023
‘मौलवियों की तरह पुजारियों को भत्ता क्यों नहीं’- बीजेपी #ArvindKejriwal #Priest #Salary #BJP pic.twitter.com/9F68xwvd9A
This is not the first time that a protest has been held by priests to get their due. There have been such protests before. In 2021, BJP leaders and workers protested in front of CM Arvind Kejriwal’s house demanding payment of salaries to priests in various temples in Delhi. The BJP had demanded that priests of Delhi temples be given a fair pay scale.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who led the protest outside Kejriwal’s house, had said that if qazis and imams who look after the mosque can be paid salaries, the temple priests should also get salaries. He added that non-payment of any salary to priests and seers serving temples shows the discrimination of the Delhi government.
As many as 225 imams and muezzins of around 185 mosques registered with the Delhi Waqf Board are paid their salaries every month. In this, 18 thousand rupees are given to the Imam and 14 thousand rupees to the muezzins. At the same time, the Imams of unregistered mosques get an honorarium of 14 thousand rupees and the muezzins in those mosques get 12 thousand rupees per month.
