The Threat Against Hindu
Temples and Vedic Culture in India
This article shows
how the Indian government is purposely jeopardizing the future of Hindu
temples.
With a little attention,
anyone can see how Hindu institutions and Hinduism in India are unfairly
targeted by a combination of vote bank politics and unscrupulous
politicians and businessmen. Particularly alarming is the destruction of Hindu
institutions and the illegal mass conversions by other religions.
Through the Hindu
Religious and Charitable Endowment Act (HRCE Act) of 1951, state governments
have appointed managers to the boards of temples in the name of better
administration, while mosques and churches are completely autonomous. This
Act allowed the state governments and politicians to take over thousands of
Hindu temples and maintain complete control over these temples and their
property. Many abuses are committed by multiple state governments using the
power accorded through this Act. Then they can sell the temple assets
and properties and use the money in any way they choose. Often the temple and
the devotees who patronize them do not see any of the money, nor does it come
back to assist the Hindu community to which the temple belongs. Some of this
money is that which is directly donated by the pilgrims and devotees who attend
the temple, given for the temple upkeep, or for the priests and deities.
However, some of the money is disbursed by the government for ulterior causes
or to other non-profit organizations based on political connections.
In Andhra Pradesh under
the Chief Minister, tens of thousands of acres of temple lands are sold away
leaving temples with little economic basis. This is done without the permission
of the local Hindu community. The state government and the endowments
department, whose duty is to safeguard the temple properties, have turned a
blind eye to such encroachments or take overs of temple properties. The state
government recently went to the extent of regularizing encroachments at nominal
prices. These encroachments are often found to be closely associated to various
political parties.
In Andhra Pradesh, Hindu
temples, institutions, and Hinduism itself are illegally targeted by the
crusade of the government. Under the Temple Empowerment Act, about 34,000
temples had come under government control. Only 18% of the revenue of these
temples is said to be given back for temple purposes, while the remaining
82% is used for other things by the government at their discretion. Such
looting, massive sale of temple lands, demolition of temples, encroachments of
temple properties, and the utilization of aggressive religious conversion
tactics by Christians in the vicinity of temples is occurring all over
Andhra Pradesh. The government, which is supposed to be a protector, has become
a destroyer of the culture, which threatens the very existence of Hindu
institutions. Only after large public protests has the state government given back
a majority of the temples, yet the most profitable were still kept under state
control.
Even the world famous
sacred temple at Tirumala-Tirupati is not spared. This temple collects
over Rs. 3,100 crores (tens of millions) every year, and the state government
has not denied the charge that as much as 85% of this is transferred to the
state exchequer, much of which goes to causes that are not connected
with the Hindu community or Vedic temples. The government also attempted to
take over 5 out of 7 Tirumala hills for churches and tourism for the profit of
development companies and other affiliates not connected with the temple. The
1000 pillar Mantapam hall was illegally demolished. Recently, in response
to Sri Chinnajeeyar Swami’s petition, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has
declared the demolition illegal and instructed the TTD management at
Tirupati to reconstruct it. If anyone has seen the Tirupati temple and the
difference there is without the 1000 pillar hall, it is shocking.
The Andhra Pradesh
government also allowed the demolition of at least 10 temples for the
construction of a golf course. Imagine the outcry, protests, and riots that
would have happened if that would be suggested for a mosque. The son of the
Chief Minister even blew up the Sunkulamma Hindu Temple in Anantapur, and
his brother, by constructing his own building, has encroached on Gurukula trust
lands worth crores (tens of millions) of rupees. While taking extra precautions
to protect churches and mosques with money from the state treasury, the
government has been selling or donating, for various government schemes and
non-Hindu purposes, tens of thousands of acres of temple lands worth thousands
of crores of rupees that are meant for the perpetual sustenance of the temples.
This will irreparably cripple these Hindu institutions. Of course, that seems
to be part of the plan.
The temples and Maths that
did not earlier come under government supervision are taken into government
control for selling away their lands. The State Endowment Board with 77,000
employees, all of whom are supported by 15-18 percent of the income from 33,000
temples, has done little for the welfare of the Hindu institutions. At the same
time, priests of temples are penniless and temples are decaying due to lack
of maintenance. Hindu priests do not want to train children in priestly
activities for lack of economical basis. This seems to be the goal of the
government to systematically wipe out Vedic culture across India.
Even while this is going
on, the Andhra Pradesh government pays 12,000 rupees per pilgrim for the Haj
trip to Mecca each year, and is considering proposals to pay Christians
for trips to Bethlehem. At the same time, the government has imposed a 50%
raise on the fares of state buses on Maha Shivaratri festival day,
like a tax that takes advantage of the Hindu community and makes it even more
difficult for them to observe their own holidays. This is not unlike the jizya
tax the Muslims imposed on Hindus years ago just for being Hindus.
Furthermore, the most important Hindu holidays, such as Rama Navami, are being
taken off the government holiday list to be replaced by secular
holidays.
The net result of this
strategic and planned selling of all temple properties, along with taxing the
Hindu community while providing funds for Christian purposes, seems to be
designed to systematically and completely cripple Hindu institutions in the
state with little hope for their survival. The Andhra Pradesh government Order
21 gave crores (tens of millions) of rupees for the renovation and
construction of churches, thus helping to pave the way for major
Christianization of the state using illegal techniques for mass conversions. Almost
all these activities are a violation of the Indian constitution that is
supposed to separate the state and religion. The government also controls
the media that ignore any Hindu representation. Even the rare newspapers
like Eenadu that do represent the Hindu view of things are persecuted by unfair
tax raids, and attempts to stop their Hindu devotional telecasts. They then use
the secular news media to spread false claims of attacks on Christians by
fundamentalist Hindus, and to defame popular Vedic saints who make great
strides for the Dharmic cause. Their next step has been to convert movie stars
to gain influential voices, and with large amounts of money buy the cooperation
of more politicians.
Activities in other parts
of India include providing provisions to the poor, as long as they convert to
Christianity. I have also seen where hospitals provide free medical care,
such as for women giving birth to babies, as long as they sign papers that say
they convert to Christianity. Or new water wells established in a poor
village, but in front of a church where the pastor makes sure no non-Christians
are allowed to draw water. Or large corporations hire people for upper
management only if they are Christian. In these and other ways, the plan is to
convert with goods and allurements.
Other strategies include
that Hindus and tribal are told that the worship of Vedic gods is actually the
worship of the devil or Satan. Or create a fear in them of hell that can only
be rectified by accepting Christianity, and tell them that they remain poor
because they have not converted. The newly converted are asked to make other
converts, and to destroy Vedic temples to prove their dedication to their new
faith. These are all strategies that often involve trickery and lies that actually
go against the real teachings of Jesus.
In Karnataka, for example,
in 2003, as reported by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and in “India Today”, 79
crores ($790,000,000) was collected from about two lakh (200,000) temples. From
that, temples received 7 crores ($70,000,000) for their maintenance, Muslim
Madrassas and the Haj subsidy (for trip to Mecca) was given 59 crores, and
churches about 13 crores. Because of tactics like this, twenty-five percent of
the two lakh temples i.e., about 50,000 in Karnataka, will be closed down for
lack of resources. The only way the government can continue to do this is
because people have not stood up enough to stop it.
In Kerala, funds from
the Guruvayur temple are diverted to other government projects denying
improvements to 45 Hindu temples. Land belonging to the Ayyappa temple (in
Sabarimala) has been grabbed and church backed encroaches are occupying huge
areas of forestland running into thousands of acres near Sabarimala. The
communist state government of Kerala, which naturally has little to no respect
for the Vedic culture and religion, wants to pass an ordinance to disband the
Travancore and Cochin Autonomous Devaswom Boards (TCDB) and take over their
limited independent authority of 1800 Hindu temples. In this way, the looting
of temple finances and properties continues unabated. It is said that this
state alone has 29,000 Christian missionaries and clergy and 19,000 in Muslim
counterparts whose main preoccupation is conversion of Hindus. Kerala is a
precursor for the state of things to come for the Hindu community in India.
With a 56 percent Hindu population, it hardly controls 25 percent of the
economy.
The
Maharashtra state government has been moving to pass a bill that would enable
it to take over the 450,000 Hindu temples in the state. This would supply a
huge amount of revenue to correct the state’s bankrupt condition after its bad
economic policies. So, now that the state
politicians have ruined the financial condition of the state, they want to take
money from the Hindu temples and community to adjust the situation. This is but
another crime against India and its Vedic culture at the hands of its
incompetent political leaders.
This is a precursor to
repeat the process already happening in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala.
Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees public
establishment and maintenance of religious institutions and to administer such
property in accordance with law, has been completely ignored toward Hindu
foundations. While looting 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
for the salary of Imams, and provides funds to churches.
You may be questioning why
the same pilgrimage privileges are not given to Hindus to go to Tirupathi,
Varanasi, Rameswaram, Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Badarinath, etc? It is very simple,
Hindu brothers and sisters are in deep slumber. They seem to be in denial, are
pacifists, and are certainly disunited. Plus, they do not seem to know what to
do or what plan to use. Otherwise, why should they not stand up to demand the
same privileges, or to stop this kind of unfair discrimination?
The state government of Bihar has also paved the way for the loss of Rs. 2000
crores of temples owned property because of its Endowments department,
according to the religious trust Administrator. In Orissa, the state government
intends to sell over 70,000 acres of endowment lands from the Jagannatha
Temple, the proceeds of which would solve a huge financial crunch brought about
by its own mismanagement of temple assets. The state government of Rajasthan
also wants to auction various Hindu temples to the highest bidder, regardless
of whether they are Hindu or not. This flagrant diversion of wealth from Hindu
temples is directly opposite the ideal of a secular country, and a bold
travesty of the principle of separation of church and state.
Why such occurrences are so often not known is that Indian media, especially
the English television and press, are often anti-Hindu in their approach, and,
thus, not inclined to give much coverage, and certainly no sympathy, for
anything that may affect the Hindu community. Therefore, such government
actions that play against the Hindu community go on without much or any
attention attracted to them. If it was not for the attention drawn to these
matters by such organizations as the Hindu Dharmacharya Sabha, convened by Swami
Dayananda Saraswati, or the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation in the U.S.,
there would probably be little organized protest of such activities against the
state governments of India. However, it is because of these organizations and
the volunteers who work with them that the public is being notified and called
to action to do something about this, and also why I’m writing about it here.
In this way, the constitutional validity of the HRCE Act is being challenged.
It is time that the same rights as the minority religions of India are given to
the majority Hindus and followers of the ancient Vedic Dharma.
PROTECTING VEDIC TEMPLES
It is obvious
that the current laws in the country are discriminatory and against Hindu
religious institutions, and it is important that Hindus demand that the
government accord Hindu institutions the same status as Muslim and Christian
institutions. The existence of the Hindu majority of India is being
threatened in their own homeland. Selfish politicians seem to be bent on
destroying the Vedic Dharma.
It is a strange thing to
see, at least for me, when the bulk of the Hindu population does not protest
when a strong reaction should naturally be there. You easily see a protest
against any Hindu activity from the media, the so-called secularists and
intellectuals and any other anti-Hindus. But the Hindu majority does not
speak out. This may also be due to the continued influence of a foreign rule,
or a slave mentality that remains after so many generations of being dominated
by outsiders. But this will not help to preserve the culture. There is a need
for another leader who can help them focus their energy in a constructive way
for them to rise up in a defensive manner.
It may also be the result of living under a constitution that does not hold the
values of the Vedic path. If the state does not recognize your personal culture
as a citizen of Dharma, then you will need to fight against it. Otherwise, your
own values, tradition and the Vedic path itself may begin to wane and even you
will lose the rights to pass it along to your children in an effective manner.
If the state is not taking care of your heritage, preserving your religion and
traditions, and all the monuments or temples that are meant to uphold your
culture, then you must refuse to merely be a citizen of the Republic, and be a
citizen of Bharata Varsha, the Vedic society.
There are many intellectuals in America, I know as I am one of those who wonder
why the Indian people tolerate so much while they see their culture being
denigrated by their own so-called leaders, the politicians who have been voted
into office. There are many Westerners that are sympathetic to the Vedic path
and what it has offered. But, when they hear of the injustice within the Indian
country, how others have the rights and government assisted funds to go on the
Haj pilgrimage, or how minorities have rights and funds to build and operate
their own schools and churches, then they wonder, why do the majority Hindus
tolerate this and not demand equal rights?
The trouble can be found in the Indian constitution itself, which was formed by
those who had less respect for Vedic society and provided laws to protect the
minorities at the expense of the majority. The anti-Hindu, anti-India
attitude must be changed. If we are going to see the continuation of the
tradition that gave the world Yoga, then we must work against this
neglect toward the profound history of India and its unique and deep Vedic
tradition. Every religion should be given the same rights by establishing a
uniform code of conduct that every Indian must follow, not that the Hindus
are second class because the Muslims or Christians are minorities and must be
offered extra rights and advantages, as outlined in the constitution. As these
minorities have used these rights for their own advantages, and they have grown
to a sizable society that can take care of them, then they no longer need these
extra privileges. Thus, the constitution can be changed to provide a uniform
code for everyone, and the people should demand it so that everyone can live
under the same rules and laws, without some minorities having special
privileges. This should be the goal of a true democracy, if that is what India
is going to be. And there should be no fear to express this. This should be the
goal. Otherwise, if equal rights and a uniform code are not to be found in
India, then India is not a true democracy.
Therefore, readers are
requested not to merely stand by and hope that nothing will happen to Hindu
Vedic Dharma, the culture that brought us the system of meditation, pranayama and
so many other things. One thousand years of foreign rule has resulted in the
loss of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the cultural loss of Kashmir.
Today a half-million Kashmiri pandits are living as refugees in their own
mother land for more than a decade and are dying in large numbers. There has
also been the cultural loss of the four states of northeast India which were a
Hindu majority as recently as 1948. Next in line for losing its traditional
culture is Andhra Pradesh.
Hindus who are complacent
need to understand the consequences if the current situation continues. Missionaries
with the help of leftists and crooked politicians, pseudo-secularists,
working in a democracy with a highly corrupt political system, a
culturally deprived intelligentsia, with billions of dollars and little
scruples, have the potential to convert a majority of India’s population away
from the culture of their homeland in just a few years. This, along with vote
bank politics, can result in complete marginalization of Hindus and the
division of India. In such a situation, those who do not convert will be at an
enormous disadvantage economically and spiritually.
Any Hindu or Dharmist who
is more concerned with himself, his family, and his own personal occupational
advancement over and above his contribution to his society and culture, only
decreases the future well-being of them and its traditions, and reduces his own
participation in securing a positive future for them.
Nowhere in the free, democratic world are the religious institutions managed,
maligned, and controlled by the government, thus denying the religious freedom
of the people of the country. But it is happening to Hindus in India. Government
officials have taken control of Hindu Temples because they smell money in them,
they recognize the indifference of Hindus, they are aware of the unlimited
patience and tolerance of Hindus, they also know that it is not in the blood
of Hindus to go to the streets to demonstrate, destroy property, threaten,
loot, harm, and kill. They also do not vote as a block in the elections
like the Christians and Muslims. The government has usurped the freedom of
Hindus to manage their temples, denied their human rights, and engaged in
continued discrimination of Hindus.
Times have changed. The
threat to the survival of Hindu civilization is real. Billions of dollars are
pouring into India every year for conversion purposes to both Christian and
Islamic groups. Even Mahatma Gandhi who fought all of his life for social
justice and religious tolerance called religious conversions by missionaries
the deadliest poison that ever sapped the fountain of truth.
Many Hindus are sitting and
watching the demise of their culture. Hindus should not sit quiet, but must be
active. They need to contribute generously to promote their culture. They have
to exercise their right to fight for their freedom. They need to express their
views loud and clear. It is time for all of us to wake up and see what is
happening to our Hindu culture before we lose the freedom to practice it. As I
have said numerous times, the way things are going we practically have more freedom
to practice the Vedic traditions in America than in India. If we are not
careful, in the future we may have to import the Vedic path back to India from
America.
Another example of the
instrumental process of losing the Vedic culture and accurate rendition of
India’s past is that in 1982, the (NCERT) National Council of Educational
Research and Training issued a directive for the rewriting of school texts. It
stipulated that the “characterization of the medieval period as a time of
conflict between Hindus and Muslims is forbidden.” Thus, denial of history, or
negation-ism, has become India’s official educational policy. In this case, how
will people ever understand or know of the real history of India and the
trials, tribulations, and sacrifices that were made in order for their Vedic
tradition to endure? Hence, every Hindu has an obligation to read and learn the
history of our forefathers who were subjected to violence, cruelty, atrocities,
and carnage. Such sacrifices under the torture of the invaders of India were
the only way that we still have the freedom to participate in the Vedic customs
that still exist today.
It is time for all Hindus
and supporters of Vedic culture to stand strong for Dharma and to unite and
work together to preserve and protect their culture and glorious past by consolidating
their votes to remove those politicians who are not supportive of Vedic Dharma,
and to bring in those who are. We must remove all superficial differences among
the numerous Hindu organizations and realize that without a unified platform,
all forms of discord will be taken advantage of by those who work against us
and wish to see the demise of Vedic culture. This must never happen, and we can
all work together to prevent it. Now is the time to work together more than
ever.
In conclusion, we need to
understand that it is necessary for all Hindus across the globe to participate
in the protection and even revival of the Hindu heritage, in freeing the
temples from government control, and in bringing unity among different sects, sampradayas,
and varnas or castes. There is a need in preserving and protecting the
rights of Hindus in different countries, and in restoring our prestige, honour,
and the essence of the Vedic tradition. Our motto should be “Let us work
together to protect, preserve, and promote our Vedic/Hindu culture.”
The point is that…
If
Hindus do not preserve their culture, who will preserve it?
If
Hindus do not promote their culture, who will do it?
If
Hindus do not learn and practice their culture, who will do it?
If
Hindus do not defend their culture, who will do it?
Therefore, let us
all join our hands and pray that we all will serve as guardians and champions
of our heritage, so that we will not be condemned or mistreated as we have in
the past, and that our rights to observe our Vedic traditions will go on long
into the future.
Compiled
