Hindus must arise, awake

The way the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister in his capacity as a practitioner of Sanatan Dharma roared during his Varahi Sabha in Tirupati on Thursday comes as a wakeup call for all the Hindus to unite and strive for protection of Sanatana Dharma in a peaceful manner and fight back pseudo secularists when they attack Sanatana Dharma. Secularism does not mean go out of the way to please other religions and ignore your own religion. It is more important than ever for Hindus to shed their shyness and raise their voice over the demand for making the temples free from the control of the endowments department

‘Lokasamasta Sukhino Bhavantu.’ This is what the Hindu scriptures, saints, seers and the rulers in the past practised. But, over centuries, several changes took place and now a situation has arisen where Hindus have been hesitating to be vocal, thanks to the modern-day politicians who do not understand what real secularism is, and have even converted love and affection into a saleable commodity and have come up with slogans like ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan.’

Unfortunately, the learned octogenarians have also turned cheer leaders rather than correct the younger generation and tell them that Hinduism was never intolerant. Hindus of late have certainly become sitting ducks. The traditions, food, culture and habits got polluted, thanks to the legacy that was left behind by several invaders including the British rulers.

Temples have become places of political rehabilitation. The successive Indian governments have not given up the legacy of government control over temples inherited from the British rule while the mosques and churches are independent and allowed to practise their culture and traditions.

Against this backdrop, there has been growing demand for freeing temples from government control. It is also leading to a lot of political drama as we are witnessing in the case of the adulteration of ghee and prasadam in Tirumala during the tenure of the previous YSRCP government. Those who are alleged to be responsible, including the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, are making some weird comments such as that the Lord should show his anger only on the present CM N Chandrababu Naidu. It would have been more magnanimous if Jagan Mohan Reddy had said the lord should not spare anyone found guilty in this case.

Well, while the country would now await the result of the probe by the joint special investigation team consisting of two officers from the CBI, two from state police and one officer from the FSSAI, all that would pass over after some time. What is more important is the need for Hindus to shed their shyness and raise their voice over the demand for making the temples free from the control of the endowments department.

It is a fact that the temple boards have become rehabilitation centers for politicians who do not consult or take the opinion of the experts of Agama Sastra into consideration. This aberration was more visible during the five years of YSRCP regime in the functioning of TTD Board.

Another aspect one needs to look at is the assault on Hinduism. There have been instances of damage to Hindu temples, desecration of idols and damage to temple property. Barring some meek protests, no demonstrative action was seen anywhere. This had given courage to people like former Chief Minister of AP to refuse to sign the declaration before entering the Tirumala temple as per the laid down rules, and the priests and the Board did not have the spine to put their foot down and implement the rule.

The bigger issue is the increase of pseudo secularists and so-called rationalists who make a lot of noise if any harm is done to any other religion. The country goes into a frenzied discussion and protests if any sacrilege is noticed either in mosques or churches or any other religious place of worship.

Fine, noise should be made and no sacrilege anywhere can be supported. But then why do they keep quiet when sacrilege takes place in Hindu temples? Why this silence? That is not secularism, certainly not.

In the backdrop of this scenario, the way the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister in his capacity as a practitioner of Sanatan Dharma roared during his Varahi Sabha in Tirupati on Thursday comes as a wakeup call for all the Hindus to unite and strive for protection of Sanatana Dharma in a peaceful manner and fight back pseudo secularists when they attack Sanatana Dharma.

He had rightly said that every Hindu should be “unapologetic” follower of Sanatana Dharma. After a long time, one had seen a man coming up so openly and making his view without mincing his words. It was something which should make the Hindus irrespective of their profession to sit up and think of giving up their shyness and take pride in calling themselves Hindus and follow all practices as per the Sastras. They should strictly observe their rituals and festivals and feel proud to say, ‘I am a Hindu.’

Secularism does not mean go out of the way to please other religions and ignore your own religion. That is why Pawan Kalyan rightly quoted a sloka, “Swasti praja bhyah pari pala yantam Nya yena margena mahi mahishaha Go brahmanebhyaha shubamastu nityam Lokaa samastha sukhino bhavantu.” (May prosperity be glorified; Let rulers rule the world with law and justice; May divinity and scholarship be protected; May all beings in the world be happy and free”). The phrase is an invocation that expresses the idea of universal well-being. It is a declaration of faith in God and the soul.

At the same time, he made another important observation and to drive home his point quoted from what Yogi in his biography had said. The story goes that once Yogi saw a huge snake which had created fear among the people. He told the snake not to bite anyone. But it came back to Yogi and said, ‘I followed what you said but the result is people are causing injuries to me by hitting me with stones.’ The Yogi laughed and said, ‘I asked you not to bite but did not say stop hissing.’

The Hindus too should be tolerant there are no two opinions about it. But they need not become silent and submissive and remain mute spectators if harm is being done to them, their religion and culture. They should raise their voice. We have seen the kind of criticism that was made when consecration of Lord Rama’s idol was done at Ayodhya and when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a Diksha before the consecration ceremony.

Those who speak of Mohabat ki Dukan refused to participate in the ceremony. Members of the INDI bloc also refused to go there and called the celebration as ‘Naach Drama’. Do they have the guts to call celebrations of other religions as dance and drama? They would rush to join them. It’s a matter of pity and shame.

The importance of Hinduism and several aspects of it whether it be Yoga, Ayurveda, the scientific knowledge in form of the four Vedas is now being recognised across the globe, But, our pseudo secularist politicians shut their eyes and mind to this aspect have kept all these issues out of curriculum as well.

A situation had developed where a Hindu takes pride in saying my children cannot speak their mother tongue. It is a matter of shame on us, and it is high time the seers, the saints, the religious bodies take up vigorous propaganda of Hinduism and its teachings as Vivekananda and other saints had done in past.