Over zealous crusader

Wednesday, 22 April, 2009 , 02:34 PM
By: V Sundaram

In these columns, on 22 February 2008, under the title ‘From Haj Subsidy to Bethlehem Subsidy’, I had observed as follows: ‘Make no mistake. Y Samuel Rajasekara Reddy is a known Seventh Day Adventist Christian committed to the cause of evangelical destruction of Hinduism, Hindu Society and Hindu Culture. First he tried to initiate a process of Evangelical Conversion through devious means by attempting to convert the whole Thirupathi Venkatachalapathy Hill Temple Complex (together with all the sacred Hills surrounding it) into a Seventh Day Adventist Christian Church Complex.  This led to massive public protests all over India and the world.  And Y Samuel Rajasekara Reddy was forced to withdraw not so much as to protect Lord Venkateshwara of Thirupathi as to protect the temporary seals of his Office as Chief Minister.

Earlier in these very columns on 4 July 2006, I had brought to public view the anti-Hindu maneuveres of this Chief Minister in these telling words:

 

 ‘In Andhra Pradesh we have a Congress Government under a Christian Chief Minister who takes instructions from an effete UPA Government in New Delhi. The Andhra Pradesh Government has been using its official Agencies for purposes of State-sponsored, State-aided and State-abetted Proselytism in Andhra Pradesh in a shamelessly flagrant manner during the last two years.  Y Samual Shekara Reddy seems to be under the mistaken impression that he behave like Henry VIII (1509-1547) of Tudor England and that he can take Andhra Pradesh back to the 16th century using the International Roman Catholic might of the UPA Government in New Delhi.  .......  Y. Samuel Rajasekara Reddy is actively promoting the physical and psychological encroachment upon the sacred spaces of Hinduism in a planned manner through carefully planted Christian Missionary Agencies.’

 

The legitimate fears expressed by me on 4 July 2006 and later reiterated again on 22 February, 2008, have come true today.  I AM GIVING BELOW IN BROAD OUTLINE THE DETAILS OF THE ABOMINABLE AND PREPOSTEROUS SCHEMES OF ANDHRA PRADESH GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE THE WELFARE OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS ONLY, TO THE STRICT EXCLUSION OF ALL THE HINDUS. With an eye on Parliamentary Elections in 2009, Y Samuel Rajashekara Reddy announced at the beginning of 2008 that his Government will ‘extend the Haj pilgrim scheme to Christian minorities also for their religious visits to Christian holy lands in Israel’. No other Roman Catholic Christian country like France or Italy in Europe or any other Roman Catholic Country in South America gives any subsidy to any of its citizens to go on holy pilgrimages to Bethlehem!!

In another article in these columns in March 2008, I stated as follows: ‘It clearly brings out the disgusting state of appalling ignorance that prevails in the higher echelons of the State Government about the underlying principles of a secular state defined under the Indian Constitution.  This is nothing but craven and blatantly discriminatory MINORITY APPEASEMENT POLITICS at its worst and this has been done with focus only on the Parliamentary Elections to take place next year.  During the last two years, Samuel Rajasekara Reddy has taken a subterranean disingenuous route to introduce job and education quotas for Muslims in order to avoid legal scrutiny. And now through his Christian subsidy for pilgrimages to Bethlehem and Jerusalem by plundering the public exchequer, he earnestly hopes that he will be able to swing the votes of Christians, who comprise 1.5 per cent of the State’s population, in favour of the Congress.  Viewed on a larger national canvas, Samuel Rajasekara Reddy’s deplorable ploy is only a logical extension of the Congress game of subsidy politics introduced by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after our independence on 15 August 1947.  India is the only country in the world which gives the subsidy to the Haj Muslim Pilgrims.  No Islamic country in the world gives this benefit to the Muslims.’

 

For those who want documentary evidence regarding the excessive pro-Christian or pro-Islamic zeal of Andhra Pradesh Government, I would say here it is. I have collected all the Government Orders (GO) by the Government of AP allotting funds to various Churches in Andhra Pradesh. My source of information is no secret either. It is the online portal of Govt of Andhra Pradesh listing all the GOs it has issued. The government portals are treasure houses of information; you just have to know how to dig out what you need.  I am just giving samples of two GOs below relating to sanction of Government Money for the Construction of Churches!

 http://suryassk.googlepages.com/AP_GOs.htm

GRANT-IN-AID SANCTIONED BY GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH TO VARIOUS CHRISTIAN CHURCHES FROM FEB 2008 TO JAN 2009

(DATA COLLECTED FROM OFFICIAL PORTAL FOR GO’S OF GOVT OF ANDHRA PRADESH. PLEASE REFER TO THE SITE FOR THE COMPLETE PDFS OF THE GO’S)

The Christians are the most favoured citizens. Likewise the Muslims are also the favoured Children of the state. I am giving below some samples regarding GRANT-IN-AID to Wakf boards.

 GRANT-IN-AID SANCTIONED BY GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH TO VARIOUS WAKF BOARDS FROM FEB 2008 TO JAN 2009

(DATA COLLECTED FROM OFFICIAL PORTAL FOR GO’S OF GOVT OF ANDHRA PRADESH. PLEASE REFER TO THE SITE FOR THE COMPLETE PDFS OF THE GO’S)

The following is the summary of the data I have collected from the GO Portal:

 1. The GO portal is active only from February 2008, hence the data I have given relates only to 1 year (i.e., Feb 2008 to Jan 2009). An amount of 263.07 lakh has been shown as aid given to Christian institutions. This amount is the minimum spent on them, not the maximum.2. More than 258 churches benefited from these grants for construction/renovation of churches.3. An amount of 1316.54 lakh was given as aid to various Muslim institutions through Wakf boards.      4. Not a single GO granting any aid to a Hindu temple can be found. This in spite of the fact that in AP, the Hindu temples are managed by the Endowments Ministry (put it simply they take all the money which the temples generate and divert it for the benefit of only the Christians and the Muslims).    
 

5. Govt takes away all the money which Hindu temples generate, but do not grant a single penny to any of its temples. It does not touch the money from Christian and Muslim institutions, but grants them huge amounts of money collected from Hindu temples.

 

    Dr. Hanuman Chowdhry, Chief Editor of ‘BHARATIYA PRAGNA’ and VEER HANUMAN of all the Hindutva forces in Andhra Pradesh has observed: ‘Thus as never before in the history of Andhra Pradesh is there now an organized assault on Hinduism and Hindus and their temples during the last five years in the state. It is seen that this assault is assisted and even masterminded by some chief functionaries of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. A series of measures openly discriminating and discriminatory against Hindus and their places of worship have been launched during the last five years.’ Some serious and most glaring ones are:

A. Giving a subsidy of Rs 25,000 for Christians in state to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other places in Israel/Palestine.  I am giving below some samples from the Government website:

 ANDHRA PRADESH STATE MINORITIES FINANCE CORPORATION

Statement showing the selected list of pilgrimage to Holy land of Jerusalam (2nd Batch)

THUS THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH (GOAP) IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE TRAVEL AGENCY FOR CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS IN ANDHRA PRADESH!

 B. There is the well established communal practice of over Rs.35,000 subsidy to Muslims for their pilgrimage to Mecca. No such subsidies are given to Hindus. On the other hand, Hindu devotees are required to buy tickets, make payments to see their god in the temples; they don’t get any subsidy for their pilgrimage to their holy places like Tirupati, Amaranth, Kasi, Somnath, Ujjain, Guruvaur, Manasarovar etc.C. A grant of Rs 15,000 grant is made to Muslims and Christians when they get married. No such financial assistance is given to the Hindus from the coffers of the government.D. Now the GOAP is celebrating at its expense SEEMANTHAM of Christian and Muslim couples onlyE. GOAP is implementing 4 per cent reservation for Muslims simply because they happen to be Muslims for admissions to professional colleges.  Muslims are running many professional colleges for engineering, medicine, MBA, BCA, Dentistry, etc. This 4% reservation has been contested in the Courts and despite the Court adversely commenting on the grant of this concession; the GOAP is implementing this reservation scheme. Y Samuel Rajasekhara Reddy is waiting for the correct political moment to extend this concession to the Christians as well.

F. GOAP is putting up huge hoardings with the Chief Minister wearing a scull cap, praying to Allah and invoking him for conferring some good to the state during the period of Haj Pilgrimage. Government is spending its money to bid farewell when and welcome to Haj pilgrims while no such thing is forthcoming for Hindus pilgrimages to Amaranth or Manasarovar or Tirupati or Kasi or Ayodhya or Somnath or Vaishnodevi or Rameshwaram or Dakshineswar or Shabarimalai or Kanya Kumari and many other temples.

 

For GOAP only the Christians and Muslims are the favoured citizens of the State.  The Hindus in Andhra Pradesh are being treated worse than the refugees from Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.