WHY LADDUGATE NEEDS MEASURES BEYOND ORDINARY

The Supreme Court rightly addressed devotees' sentiments on the question of adulterated ghee used at Tirupati. The temple trust needs to institute systemic changes to avoid a repeat

THE Supreme Court hit the nail on the head on Friday while ordering a special investigative team's probe into allegations of contaminated ghee used in the making of the laddus given as prasadam to devotees at the Hindu shrine at Tirupati. The top court observed it was passing the order "to assuage the feelings of crores of devotees".

On September 19, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu quoted a National Dairy Development Board report alleging that the ghee used to prepare the world-famous laddu at the Sri Venkateswara Swami temple was contaminated with fish oil, beef tallow and lard (pig fat).

This news came down as a tonne of bricks on countless devotees. While many know-alls dismissed the sordid episode as a "non-issue", there were whiz-kids for whom it was one more move on the political chess board. Undoubtedly, the egregious controversy has far wider ramifications beyond the usual power matrix and murky account books of unscrupulous businessmen. As the Supreme Court observed, countless devotees' trust and religious sensitivities are at stake.

The top court's observation at the previous hearing of the case on September 30 that adulterated ghee wasn't used in the prasadam had brought tremendous relief to believers, who must have been writhing in guilt, pain and hurt after the contamination story had gone viral. The court had said the laddus were not contaminated; the ghee was.