Prakasarao V Velagapudi PhD

If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — Karl Popper

It is disheartening to read and to know the kind of agony Hindus are going through in Andhra Pradesh in particular and in India in general.  We hear the destruction of Hindu Temples, breaking of Hindu Murthies, defecation of Gods, burning of Radhas (chariots), stealing of precious vigrahas, removal of Hindu leaders from their Temple positions, neglect of Gaushalas, tampering with the sanctity of the rituals, selling of lands, leasing of Temple lands, and others. Christians have become aggressive, bold, daring, hostile, and violent with the support from Christian Chief Minister which enabling them to openly building churches without permission on the Hindu Temple lands, public property, and private individual properties. Police have become zombies and powerless. They not fulfilling their responsibility as the keepers of law and order. They are there only to serve the needs of the Chief Minister ignoring the Hindu interests, denying the opportunity to file FIRs as requested by Hindus, intimidating them with false charges to silence them, refusing to hear the legitimate complaints from the Hindus against Christians, rejecting the fundamental right to protest and freedom of speech, unleashing the party workers to threaten the critics of the Chief Minister, and even imprisoning the Hindus who criticize the Chief Minister or the government. The Hindus have become a laughingstock with their reputation tarnished forever.

For centuries, Hindus have been attacked, their Temples have been ransacked and what is happening today is not unexpected. We all know the gravity of the situation. Hinduism is being suffocated, our ideals are being shackled, and the very existence is being smothered. Whatever concerns we have and what is happening all around us, day after day are not surprising. Year after year, the survival of Hindus is at stake. The Hindu philosophy spread from Afghanistan on the west, Russia in the North, and all the way to China in the East. What happened? Why Hindus do not even have ONE country where they can call themselves the Hindu Nation while Muslims have more than 50 countries under their belt and Christians have all European countries, Latin American countries, Australia, Canada, USA, and other countries in Africa and Asia. Hindus have surrendered many countries that benefitted from Hindu ideals and pseudo-secular Hindus helped partition Akhanda Bharat into three countries to pacify others at the expense of Hindu lives. Hindu countries have disappeared, and Hindu numbers are dwindling fast.

For millennia Hindus espoused accommodation, inclusiveness, compromise, tolerance, ahimsa, patience, the concept of vasudaiva kutumbam and respect for others. Unfortunately, others do not have the same philosophy or similar moral fabric. The sooner we realize, the better we may take appropriate actions to protect ourselves from the incessant attacks, relentless abuse of Hindu dharma, ruthless violence, and ceaseless deception. It is all happening in front of our eyes. It has been happening for centuries. We keep tolerating while others are pushing Hindus against the wall. We are being corned. There is no way out. Our Hindu population is shrinking day by day and in the name of minority appeasement, we are denying our people the equal opportunities.

Hinduism is in Critical Condition

In general, Hindus do not care about their history. They live for the moment. They live for themselves. They have no pride, no appreciation of the richness of their own culture, what happened to their forefathers, and their Temples. Total ignorance of their history is the hallmark of many Hindus. They became selfish, living only to make money and aspiring only for power and name sacrificing their own mother culture for political expediency. They live for the moment. Hindus tend to overlook, forget, and forgive all the atrocities committed against us for more than ten centuries ever since Islam came to India and the deceptive entry of Christians into India. Hindu Kush mountains are standing tall to exemplify the crushing of Hindus in Afghanistan which was a Hindu nation until about the 10th century. Hindus were either driven out, subjected to untold miseries, or crushed to death to make Afghanistan an Islamic country. Muslim rulers in India destroyed more than 2000 Hindu temples and built Mosques using the Hindu Gods images and the Temple structures. It does not bother many Hindus. They would not even reflect and think even for a minute to find out what happened to so many Temples that were attacked, destroyed, and built Mosques on top of Hindu Temples. There was no outrage when we read or hear about how Ayodhya Rama Temple was destroyed and built a mosque on top of it, Krishna Janma Sthala was destroyed and built Mosque on top of it, and Kasi Vishwanath Temple was razed numerous times and built a mosque at the entrance the Temple. Hindus are not bothered about their ancestors who were ruthlessly murdered for centuries. Even today many Hindus act as if nothing is happening even when the Temple next door is demolished by the government in front of their eyes. Even the historian Will Durant's assessment that the Muslim rule in India was “probably the bloodiest story in the history” did not awaken our conscience.

Goa Inquisition that lasted from 1560 6to 1812 is considered the most merciless and cruel. Many Indian Hindus were tortured and burnt at the stake for continuing to practice their religion. They were even tortured for whispering a prayer or keeping an idol in the house. Charles Dellon, who was the witness to the tortures during that virtual time, observed that he could hear “the cries of those to whom the torture was administered, and which was inflicted so severely, that I have seen many persons of both sexes who have been crippled by it, and, amongst others, the first companion allotted to me in prison” Terror was inflicted on pregnant women to make them abort. Christian historian, Dr. T. R. de Souza narrates that “The screams of agony of the culprits (men, women, and children) could be heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly dismembered in front of their relatives. Eyelids were sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a person could remain conscious even though the only thing that remained was his torso and a head.” It is almost unbelievable to read about the restrictions, and tortures imposed on Hindus.

Hindu religious practices were forbidden in Portuguese territory. Hindus were baptized to make sure that they severe the relationships with their family, community, and the society, culture, and country. They are supposed to establish new loyalty to the Portuguese leaders. By the order of 8 July 1644, converts were forced to wear western dress. Traditional vegetarianism was forcefully replaced by making them eating pork and beef - meat by the holy cow.    

13031. reason to narrate just the two bloodiest and cruel incidents is only to remind Hindus what happened to our forefathers and how Hindus were treated so that we would not be subjected to these atrocities in our lifetime by these Christians and Muslims. Christians are on war footing to dismantle the Hindu edifice with different techniques with the help of state and national Hindu politicians in Andhra Pradesh who have determined to sacrifice their mother to these brutal religions for their selfish economic, political, and carnal desires.

It is time to look back over the last 2000 years and assess the situation. There is so much to learn to avoid the mistakes our forefathers have made in the name of ahimsa, tolerance, and patience. We did not have to go back to so many centuries to find out what has happened to our Temples and Hindu dharma. It is happening right now and in front of our own eyes in open daylight. They are not hiding their agenda. With the support of the Christian Chief Minister and his party Hindu politicians, the Christians openly saying that they will convert Andhra into a Christian State. The Christians and Muslims are openly laughing at us, mocking us, insulting us, humiliating us, and attacking us with no recourse. Our inaction and unwillingness to identify the enemy, inspiring them, even more, humiliate Hindu lifestyles, attack Hindu Temples, and belittle Hindu Dharma. Christians and Muslims openly talk about wiping out Hinduism from the face of India. They are not hiding their intention to extinguish our civilization.

Akbaruddin Owaisi made a bloodthirsty pronouncement that “We are 25 crores; you are 100 crores. Remove the police for 15 minutes and we will show you who has more courage and strength … Today, I have this mike in front of me. If tomorrow I hold something else, then there will be so much of bloodshed in this country which this country has not seen in the last 1000 years.” There is no appropriate response neither from the State government nor from Hindus. Christians use every destructive, insulting, demeaning Father Joseph Menengis, priest of St James Church in Mariyannapalya, Bangalore, confessed before the Justice B K Somashekara Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday (March 11, 2009) “The duty of every Christian is to convert non-Christians to Christianity by any means.” When he says “by any means” what does it mean? They use such methods as deception, deceit, force, manipulation, allurement, tricks, treachery, exploitation, violence, killings, educational indoctrination, defame Hinduism, demean their gods, denounce their scriptures, and the list goes on.

Pause everything and Prioritize

Hindu House is on fire. Our lives are in danger, our values are in peril, and our future is bleak. When our house is on fire, we need to take every step to extinguish the flames to stop the spread of fire. We have to temporarily pause all our activities. We have to prioritize our actions and our efforts. Unless we put out the fires first, they will spread not only to Andhra but all the states in India. Hinduism is under siege! It is being ambushed by different groups – Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Media, Secularists, Communists, Politicians, and movie fields. Hindu leaders are being killed every day with no recourse. Our Swamiji’s and Peethadhipathis are smeared openly in the media with false charges and systematically eliminated some of them and silenced them with false charges and propaganda. Hindus must wake up and engage in stopping the erosion of the Hindu population and expand the Hindu base.

Many Hindus have been spending their energy and resources on several things that benefit themselves and to some extent expand the intellectual and spiritual base. Unfortunately, their activities have not resulted either in stopping the conversion of Hindus into Christianity or in bringing back to Hinduism those who were converted. Their efforts have not reached the ground level. Let us look at how spend our time and why we have to prioritize?

We have been writing so many books on various subjects for so many centuries to benefit a small percentage of the population.

We have been engaged in tharkam / discussions about our scriptures with meticulous intelligence for centuries with no end in sight.

We have been engaged in endless discussion on Social media on almost any topic under the sun with or without knowledge

We have been attending so many conferences to learn the most updated information on a given topic to satisfy our intellectual curiosity.

We have been organizing mammoth meetings to educate the Hindus with an interest in enlightening the audience

We have been building so many new Temples ignoring the renovation of historical Temples partly for individual satisfaction and partly to make them accessible to the nearby communities

We have been going to select Hindu Temples such as Lord Venkateswara, Ayyappa Temple, Vaishnavi Temple, Kasi Viswanath Temple, Puri Temple, etc., and seek the blessings of our chosen Gods

We have been doing pujas and homas for hours together to create positive vibrations to harmony in the communities, enhance spirituality and improve the environment

We have formed so many organizations to promote literature, art, dance drama, language, etc. to impart the richness of our culture.

We have been spending an inordinate amount of time watching serials on TV ignoring what is happening to the next door neighbor

We have been spending an untold amount of time watching national and international sports as if the prestige of the nation depends on it.

This is only a partial list of activities that Hindu activists have been engaged in passionately. We have been innocently preoccupied with these kinds of activities highlighting the strengths of Hindu Dharma, exhibited abundant desire to be patient and tolerant, emphasized the need for spiritual development, underscored the need for universal peace and harmony for so many centuries without realizing that the enemies are slowly but surely invading the Hindu edifice by slowly stealing our gullible Hindus. With the support of the converted and corrupt politicians, the Christians have become emboldened to openly attacking our Hindu Temples, demeaning our Hindu Dharma with no recourse left as the Law Enforcement has become a pawn in the hands of the Christian Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

As we are busy with our activities, we have not paid attention to what is happening to our Hindu population in the villages, our neighborhoods, and our next door neighbor. They are being converted overnight and we are all surrounded by Christians and Churches. When the Christians started converting in other states, we thought it is not our problem. When it is happening in our State , we thought it did not affect our town. When it is happening in our own town, we thought it did not come to our neighborhood. By the time it came to our neighborhood, there is no Hindu left. We are blind to the fact that the mass conversion is taking place silently and our ignorance preventing us to see how our Hindu roots are pulled out.

Let us pause for a minute and examine the ground realities and the plight of the Hindu population. Have any of our activities expanded the Hindu base? Have these activities increased the Hindu population in numbers? Have any of these activities reached the villages? Have these activities reached the average Indian to make them proud of their Hindu dharma? Have any of these activities stopped the erosion of the Hindu population? Have these activities helped stop the conversion? Have they helped any sizable numbers to return to Hinduism? Obviously, the answer is no. None of our activities appear to make any difference in retaining the Hindu population. We have to pause our activities, prioritize, and divert our energies to stop the conversion of Hindus by Christians, and engage in Ghar Waapasi to welcome the converted back to Hinduism. Christians are snatching Hindus daily. Hindus have not woken up to the reality. Christians, Muslims, Hindu politicians, secularists, liberal media, and social media appear to conspire to see the extinction of Hinduism for their selfishness. Their power, their wealth, and their fame are more important than the preservation and protection of their faith. They are competing to get the favors of these other religions at the expense of their mother.

Hindu population at the time of Independence was 90% and in 2020, it is approximately 74 %. The Muslim population was 8% in 1947 while it is about 22 % at present. Christian population increased from 2% to 4 % during the same period. But in Andhra Pradesh, it increased from 1.3 % in 2011 to 18 % in 2020 officially. The unofficial number of the Christian population in Andhra is about 30 %. Converted Christians were supposed to hide their faith as directed by the Christian pastors.

Knowing that the Hindu population is declining due to massive Christian efforts to convert as many people as possible, Hindus cannot remain silent, turn their blind eye, stay indifferent, and continue to be uncaring for their potential demise. Can we afford to lose our fellow Hindus unless we are ready to be bulldozed by Christians and Muslims?

If all the efforts we were making till now had impacting on reversing the trend, it would have been great. These efforts are not increasing the Hindu numbers at the ground level. As we concentrate on our intellectual endeavors, Christians are concentrating on conversion. It is time for all the intellectuals and activists to pause a few minutes and look at the ground realities. Our intellectual endeavors and activists’ protests are not reaching the villages where conversion is rampant. We cannot ignore or turn away from what is happening on the ground and keep doing our own things as if nothing is happening to our culture and Hindu population.

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