Hindu Temples under attack - By the Government of India

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http://www.stephen- knapp.com/ threat_against_ hindu_temples_ and_vedic_ culture_in_ india.htmThe Threat Against Hindu Temples and Vedic Culture in IndiaBy Stephen KnappThis article shows how the Indian government is purposely jeopardizingthe future of Hindu temples.With a little attention, anyone can see how Hindu institutions andHinduism in India are unfairly targeted by a combination of

Christianand Muslim Fundamentalists, vote bank politics and unscrupulouspoliticians and businessmen. Particularly alarming is the destructionof Hindu institutions and illegal mass conversions by other religions.Through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, Hindutemples and Maths are taken over by state Governments in the name ofbetter administration, while mosques and churches are completelyautonomous. This Act allowed the state governments and politicianscomplete control over the temples and their property. Many abuses arecommitted by multiple state governments using the power accordedthrough this Act.In Andhra Pradesh under

Chief Minister Y. Samuel Rajasekar Reddy, tensof thousands of acres of temple lands are sold away leaving templeswith little economic basis. This is done without the permission of thelocal Hindu community. The state government and the endowmentsdepartment whose duty is to safeguard the temple properties haveturned a blind eye to such encroachments or take overs of templeproperties. The state government recently went to the extent ofregularizing encroachments at nominal prices. These encroachments areoften found to be closely associated to various political parties.In Andhra Pradesh, Hindu temples, institutions and Hinduism itself areillegally targeted by the crusade of the government. Under the TempleEmpowerment Act, about 34,000 temples are under government control.Only 18% of the revenue of these temples is said to be given back fortemple purposes, while the remaining 82% is used for other things bythe government at their discretion. Such looting, massive sale oftemple lands, demolition of temples, encroachments of templeproperties, and the utilization of aggressive religious conversiontactics by Christians in the vicinity of temples is occurring all overAndhra Pradesh. The government, which is supposed to be a protectorhas become a destroyer of the culture, which threatens the veryexistence of Hindu institutions.Even the world famous

sacred temple at Tirumala-Tirupati is notspared. The government attempted to take over 5 out of 7 Tirumalahills for churches and tourism. The 1000 pillar Mantapam in Tirumalawas illegally demolished. Recently in response to Sri ChinnajeeyarSwami's petition, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has declared thedemolition illegal and instructed the TTD management at Tirupati toreconstruct it. If anyone has seen the Tirupati temple and thedifference there is without the 1000 pillar hall, it is shocking.The Andhra Pradesh government also allowed the demolition of at least10 temples for the construction of a golf course. The son of the ChiefMinister even blew up the Sunkulamma Hindu Temple in Anantapur,

andhis brother Vivekananda Reddy, by constructing his own building, hasencroached on Gurukula trust lands worth crores of rupees. Whiletaking extra precautions to protect churches and mosques with moneyfrom the state treasury, the government has been selling or donating,for various government schemes and non-Hindu purposes, tens ofthousands of acres of temple lands worth thousands of crores of rupeesthat are meant for the perpetual sustenance of the temples. This willirreparably cripple Hindu institutions.Temples and Maths that did not earlier come under governmentsupervision are taken into government control for selling away theirlands. The charge that 85 percent of the revenues is taken by thestate exchequer was not denied by the state government. The StateEndowment Board with 77,000 employees, all of whom are supported by15-18 percent of the income from 33,000 temples, has done little forthe welfare of the

Hindu institutions. At the same time, priests oftemples are penniless and temples are decaying due to lack ofmaintenance. Hindu priests do not want to train children in priestlyactivities for lack of economical basis. This seems to be the goal ofthe government to systematically wipe out Vedic culture in generalacross India. Even while this is going on, the AP government pays 12,000 rupees perpilgrim for the Haj trip to Mecca, and is considering proposals to payChristians for trips to Bethlehem. At the same time, the governmenthas imposed a 50% raise on the fares of state buses on

MahaShivaratriday, like a tax that takes advantage of the Hindu community and makesit even more difficult for them to observe their own holidays.Furthermore, the most important Hindu holidays, such as RamaNavami,are being taken off the government holiday list to be replaced bysecular holidays. The net result of this strategic and planned selling of all templeproperties, along with taxing the Hindu community while providingfunds for Christian purposes, seems to be designed to systematicallyand completely cripple Hindu institutions in the state with littlehope for their survival. The Andhra Pradesh government Order 21 gavecrores (tens of millions) of rupees for the renovation andconstruction of churches, thus, helping to pave the way for majorChristianization of the state using illegal techniques for massconversions. Almost all these activities are a violation of the Indianconstitution that is supposed to

separate the state and religion. Thegovernment also controls the media that ignore any Hindurepresentation. Even the rare newspapers like Eenadu that do representthe Hindu view of things are persecuted by unfair tax raids, andattempts to stop their Hindu devotional telecasts. They then use thesecular news media to spread false claims of attacks on Christians byfundamentalist Hindus, and to defame popular Vedic saints who makegreat strides for the Dharmic cause. Their next step has been toconvert movie stars to gain influential voices, and with large amountsof money buy the cooperation of politicians.Activities in other parts of India include providing provisions to thepoor, as long as they convert to Christianity. I have also seen wherehospitals provide free medical care, such as for women giving birth

tobabies, as long as they sign papers that say they convert toChristianity. Or new water wells established in a poor village, but infront of a church where the pastor makes sure no non-believers areallowed to draw water. Or large corporations hire people for uppermanagement only if they are Christian. In these and other ways, theplan is to convert with goods and allurements.Other strategies include that Hindus and tribals are told that theworship of Vedic gods is actually the worship of the devil or Satan.Also create a fear in them of hell that can only be rectified byaccepting Christianity, and tell them that they remain poor becausethey have not converted. The newly converted are asked to make otherconverts, and to destroy Vedic temples to prove their dedication totheir new faith. These are all strategies that often involve trickeryand lies that actually go against the real teachings of Jesus.In

Karnataka, for example, in 2003, as reported by Sri Sri RaviShankar and in "India Today", 79 crores ($790,000,000) was collectedfrom about two lakh (200,000) temples. From that, temples received 7crores ($70,000,000) for their maintenance, Muslim Madrassas and Hajsubsidy (for trip to Mecca) was given 59 crores, and churches about 13crores. Twenty-five percent of the two lakh temples i.e., about 50,000in Karnataka, will be closed down for lack of resources.In Kerala, funds from the Guruvayur temple are diverted to othergovernment projects denying improvements to 45 Hindu temples. Landbelonging to the Ayyappa temple (in Sabarimala) has been grabbed andchurch backed encroaches are occupying huge areas of forestlandrunning into thousands of acres near Sabarimala. With a new Devaswomordinance 1800 new temples

are taken under government control. In thisway, the looting of temple finances and properties continues unabated.It is said that this state alone has 29,000 Christian missionaries andclergy and 19,000 in Muslim counterparts whose main preoccupation isconversion of Hindus. Kerala is a precursor for the state of things tocome for the Hindu community in India. With 56 percent Hindupopulation, it hardly controls 25 percent of the economy.In Maharashtra, the government recently declared to take over all thetemples. This is a precursor to repeat the process already happeningin Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. Articles 25 and 26 of theIndian Constitution guarantees public establishment and maintenance ofreligious institutions and to administer such property in accordancewith law has been completely ignored toward Hindu foundations. Whilelooting Hindu institutions, the Governments subsidizes the "Hajj"pilgrimage for the Muslims to the tune of Rs. 380 crores annually(including subsidy to airlines), and provides 1000 crores per year forthe salary of Imams, and provides funds to churches.It is obvious that the current laws in the country are discriminatorytowards Hindu religious institutions and it is important that Hindusdemand that the government accord Hindu institutions the same statusas Muslim and Christian institutions. The existence of the

Hindumajority of India is being threatened in their own homeland. Selfishpoliticians are bent on destroying the Vedic Dharma and its culturethat goes back thousands of years. Mahatma Gandhi who fought all ofhis life for social justice and religious tolerance called religiousconversions by missionaries the deadliest poison that ever sapped thefountain of truth.Readers are requested not to merely stand by and hope that nothingwill happen to Hindu Vedic Dharma. One thousand years of foreign rulehas resulted in loss of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, and thecultural loss of Kashmir. Today a half-million Kashmiri pandits areliving as refuges in their own mother land for more than a decade andare dying in large numbers. There has also been the cultural loss ofthe four states of northeast India which were a Hindu majority asrecently as 1948. Next in line for losing its traditional culture isAndhra Pradesh.Hindus who are complacent need to understand the consequences if thecurrent situation continues. Missionaries with the help of leftistsand crooked politicians, pseudo-secularists, working in a democracywith a highly corrupt political system, a culturally deprivedintelligentsia, with billions of dollars and little scruples,

have thepotential to convert a majority of India=s population away from theculture of their homeland in just a few years. This, along with votebank politics, can result in complete marginalization of Hindus andthe division of India. In such a situation, those who do not convertwill be at an enormous disadvantage economically and spiritually.Any Hindu or Dharmist who is more concerned with himself, his familyand his own personal advancement over and above his contribution tohis society and culture, only decreases the future well-being of themand its traditions, and reduces his own participation in securing apositive future for them.It is

time for all Hindus and supporters of Vedic culture to standstrong for Dharma and to unite and work together to preserve andprotect their culture by consolidating their votes to remove thosepoliticians who are not supportive of Vedic Dharma, and to bring inthose who are. We must remove all superficial differences among thenumerous Hindu organizations and realize that without a unifiedplatform, all forms of discord will be taken advantage of by those whowork against us and wish to see the demise of Vedic culture. This mustnever happen, and we can all work together to prevent it. Now is thetime to work together more than ever.MORE INFORMATIONFor a complete report on the U. S. Government=s connection with andsupport for evangelistic organizations committed to conversionactivities all over India,

please see this article on Tehelka.com at:http://www.tehelka. com/story_ main.asp? filename= ts013004shashi. asp & id=1 Articles on www.stephen- knapp.com that compliment the purpose of thisreport include:1. AHindus Must Stand Strong for Dharma@, 2. ATime to Plan the Survival of Vedic Culture@,3. AAn Action Plan for the Survival of Vedic Culture@,4, ASave Your Culture@, 5. APreaching in India=s Northeast for Cultural Preservation@ ,6. AMy Northeast India Mission in 2003-4@Also see:www.christianaggres

sion.org -- to keep up with events and plans ofChristian aggression.www.crusadewatch. org -- latest news on the plans and attempts ofChristian organizations to make the world Christian. Www.hinduministries .org/pointers. htm -- is a Christian site thatprovides training missionaries and Christians worldwide how to win thehearts of Hindus to Christ.Also: www.hinduministries .org/hindu_ links.htm -- links for differentapproaches to win Hindus. This gives inights into the techniques thatcan be expected that Christians use to bring Hindus to Jesus.Many more sites like this can be found.horizontal ruleHow

India is Losing It's Cultureby francois gautierDemocracy in India has been hijacked. It takes a fortune to beelected. Politicians, elected by and for the people, once they arelocked in the ivory tower that is Delhi, forget all about the people.What is it that which India is fast losing as you read this

article?Its culture. Entire patches in the northeast are being converted toChristianity. Missionaries tell tribals that it is sinful to enter atemple, women are asked not to wear bindis, and chil­dren are taughtto look down on their culture as animist or heathen.India is fast losing communal harmony. Today, even the Sikh communityfeels it wants to separate from its Hindu brothers, and Christians andMuslims are encouraged to look down upon Hindus.In the Indian media, there is a witch hunt against gurus, a deridingand mock­ing of Indian spirituality, a marginalizing of Hinduism andHindus, who constitute the immense majority in India and are a billionworldwide, one of the most law-abiding,

religious, educated, affluentcommunities in the world.More and more, Indian television particularly, but also newspapers andmagazines, are casting a look on India that is not only very critical(if you open any newspaper nowadays, you can only end up depressed),but which in its very nature is a Western look -- which judges Indiaaccord­ing to Western standards.India's intellectuals defend an artist who paints one of the mostrevered ancient Hindu gods doing unmentionable things to a Hindugoddess. Someone who is part of a dia­bolical plot to kill Indianlead­ers and storm Parliament

gets the benefit of the doubt from thesame intelligentsia in the vision particularly, but also newspapersand magazines, are casting a look on India that is not only verycritical (if you open any newspaper nowadays, you can only end updepressed), but which in its very nature is a Western look -- whichjudges India accord­ing to Western standards.India's intellectuals defend an artist who paints one of the mostrevered ancient Hindu gods doing unmentionable things to a Hindugoddess. Someone who is part of a dia­bolical plot to kill Indianlead­ers and storm Parliament gets the benefit of the

doubt from thesame intelligentsia in the name of judicial correctness. Some Indiansare more and more divided. Instead of feel­ing first Indians, theyfeel they are first Muslims and then Indians, first Dalits and thenIndians, first Christian and then Indians. This is a dangerous trendand it spells the death of the minimum unified nationalistic pridethat can take a country for­ward. Instead, Indians today take pride inmelting abroad, or adopting a 'secular' creed, which basically makesthem soul-less and identity-less, however brilliantly they ape the West.As a foreigner who loves India, I feel that this blind copying of theWest's ignorant and doubting mind, the aping of whatever is has provedwrong in the West - wild con­sumerism, or savage capital­ism - will bea tragedy for India. The Westernization of India must not be at thecost of her culture and spirituality. Yet, there are signs that it isalready happening here. [Available at www.stephen- knapp.com]--- End forwarded message ---

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