South African Hindu Dharma Sabha urges reinstatement of Hindu chaplains in police services
Ram Maharaj. File picture Ram Maharaj is the President of the South African Hindu Dharma Sabha.
Image: File
The South African Hindu Dharma Sabha is calling on the South African Police Services to reinstate the services of Hindu chaplains.
Ram Maharaj, president of the South African Hindu Dharma Sabha, a religious and cultural organisation, expressed concerns over the absence of Hindu chaplains, stating that this gap has resulted in a growing number of complaints from the community.
In a letter to SAPS head of spiritual services, Maharaj requested the provision of Hindu chaplains for essential services, inter alia, for counselling, consolation, guidance, elimination of gender based violence, conflict resolution, reduction of drug and alcohol abuse and general social upliftment services for the Hindu community particularly in hours of need.
He said the provision of the vital services will proactively motivate and enhance the performance of Hindu members of the South African Police Services and raise the level of morale, patriotism and work ethics.
"Moreover, it will raise the level of God-consciousness and moral regeneration and improve the quality of life of all South Africans," said Maharaj.
Following the submission of the letter and request for a meeting, Pundit Satish Maharaj, met with members from the department of spiritual services within SAPS to discuss a way forward.
Pundit Maharaj had previously served as a Hindu chaplain in Durban until his retirement in 2021.
"After my retirement there had been another Hindu priest. After his retirement the position was not filled. The position in Gauteng has also been vacant.
"In KwaZulu-Natal there is a large number of Hindus within the police services who generally require counselling, grief counselling and spiritual upliftment," said Maharaj.
He said he is now working with spiritual services within the police to present a criteria in terms of what is required of a Hindu chaplain and what role they would play.
"The current requirement is a minimum of a matric pass and being recognised by a religious organisation. For Hindus there is no tertiary qualification, like there is for Christians who can obtain a tertiary qualification in theology or Biblical studies.
"I am in the process of drawing up a recommended criteria which the SAPS can use when making a call for Hindu chaplains," he said.
The police did not respond at the time of publication.