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INDIA, August 05, 2004: Railway Board Chairman R. K. Singh has instructed railway authorities to remove pictures of Gods and Goddesses from all rail stations, following Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s drive to free stations from all religious influences. This has angered railway employees, travellers and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The order may have been prompted by complaints that many railway stations had large photographs of Gods and Goddesses exhibited on platforms and in offices, and influenced by the wish to free stations from all religious activities following the Godhra train tragedy. A senior official at the Southern Railway said that although R. K. Singh had remarked on the subject, there had been no specific order. Photographs of Lord Muthappan and Goddess Lakshmi are displayed at many stations in the Southern Railway Zone. Hundreds of thousands of devotees who travel in trains to religious places use the stations to pray and conduct pujas. Railway employees also conduct Ayudha Puja (blessing of tools) every year during the Mahanavani festival. Railway Caterers’ Association national president N. B. Krishna Kurup said the ban is not proper. “Everyone has the right to religious worship. Railway stations are used by millions of people every day. So what is the harm if some of them worship before their Gods at the stations?” BJP leader P. S. Sreedharan Pillai said no government has the right to ban religious beliefs, and the party would oppose the measure, alleging that the minister has been forced to issue the communique by communists and atheists who control the Manmohan Singh government.

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