How do you resist the onslaught of
intolerant politico-religious ideas on the Hindu body politic?
 

Begin with acknowledging the problem. Hindus are under
an intensely vicious, cleverly planned, and precisely
executed attack.

Think of a highly evolved community, living peacefully, wishing well to all, that welcomes strangers with childlike curiosity and open arms, without realizing that they have come with an ulterior agenda to convert, homogenize or eliminate. That is we, the Hindus.

Christian missionary activities in the tribal hinterlands of India are aimed at converting our tribal population to Christianity and thereby destroying the religious pluralism of these regions. It is an attack on the core Hindu idea that accepts, respects, and even venerates religious pluralism. Why do we worship those millions of images of God with so much of gusto and celebration? We even worship a formless God with great conviction. Those who choose not to worship a notional God are not turned into social outcasts here. It is in our culture. As individuals, we accept the secular and the religious as equally valid. We have resisted all attempts in the past to create an all-powerful and centralized religious institution to govern our day-to-day lives. The edicts of shashtras can be challenged, disputed, and even discarded. Our lives are not tied to a book or an institution or an idea. The freedom of  religious and spiritual experimentation was never taken away from the individual in our society.

That is the difference between the approach of Hinduism and that of Christianity and Islam. Why do we tolerate the colourful and at times disrespectful depiction and manipulation of our religious images by artistes like Hussein? Though there have been some protests in the recent past against him, none has called for his head for the so-called acts of sacrilege committed by him. He still roams the streets of India on his bare feet without Z class security. In contrast, every Hindu leader has to be protected as his/her life is constantly under threat, not for blaspheming other religions but for standing up for his/her legitimate rights in the only land he can call his own.

Even Praveen Togadia, the most demonized of all Hindus, has never uttered a single disrespectful word against the essential religious precepts of Islam and Christianity to date. He speaks against Pakistan and maulvis and padres. He suspects them of harming the cause of national integration. He speaks against Bangladeshi infiltration that is going to create havoc in  border states like Assam and West Bengal. He may even oppose the sudden spurt in Valentine Day celebrations across the country as he thinks that the Church and MNCs are implementing a sinister plot aimed at corrupting the Indian youth by making them 'sex centric' idiots. And though his communication sounds crude, jingoist, and badly worded, his allegations and apprehensions are not baseless. There is a certain design behind the enthusiastic promotion of trends like VD. It is not merely a harmless marketing gimmick of a few shopkeepers and marketers to sell heart shaped cards, and memento, and diamond rings, and pendants to our young people. There is much more to it than what meets the eye. And when the VHP leaders refer to some documents that reveal the Vatican's plan to bring India under Christian influence, it is the truth and not some usual anti Church rhetoric. Have you been aware of it? If not, it betrays your ignorance of the dangerous and devious conspiracies that are being hatched to dismember and distroy the Hindu polity.

Why do you think the pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses are put on tissues, toilet seat covers, chappals, underwear, and beer bottles by some manufacturers in the west? It is not a recent trend. Christian groups, with tacit and tactical support of the Church, have always had this penchant to demean, demonize, ridicule, and run down Hindu institutions, icons, and lifestyles as a pretext to proselytize.

Do you know why the young Swami Vivekanand went to America? It was a deep-seated anger within him at the mischief mongering of Christian groups in India that made him cross the seven seas. He wanted to tell the world of what was happening and expose the falsehood being spread in the west about us. He also wanted Hindus to be proud of their past achievements  and while resisting the attacks on their religion and way of life, stand up and get ready to make their unique contribution to the survival and holistic growth of humanity. It helped. It consolidated our national consciousness and made us feel confident about ourselves. Swami’s ideas formed the core of a national regeneration movement that got further expressed  in an organized resistance for political liberation.

Religion is deeply embedded in our consciousness. There is a historical and political context to it. Only fools can wish away this reality.

The political content of Islam and Christianity pose a grave threat to the survival of a grand pluralistic Hindu idea that envisions a colourful, peace loving, and co-existing community of highly enlightened people with varying tendencies, attitudes, and religious beliefs. It will be stupid of us if we do not recognize this threat and fail to act. We must not forget the lessons of our history of the past nine hundred years.

So, if the RSS and the VHP organize a Shabari Kumbh* in the Dang district of Gujarat to check and stop the proselytization work of missionaries, it must be welcomed and lauded. Even the ultra-liberals should not get swayed by anti- RSS propaganda here. They need not be apologetic about their support to such activities. Remember, someone is doing something here to save Hinduism and India.

We must aid these initiatives in whatever way we can. Many RSS affiliates are working in the field of tribal education and other kinds of social work. They need money, material, men, and media support. The problem is, they are not as media savvy as the Christian NGOs that have a long tradition of using propaganda for fund collection purposes. The RSS and its affiliates are the underdogs in the game.

You must be getting a lot of requests for donations from various quarters. Some of the high profile NGOs have been collecting hundreds of crores from unsuspecting donors by using and investing in state of the art communication strategies and programmes to build up a positive media image and presence. Please make sure to check out the antecedents of these NGOs. Ask for specific details about how and where and exactly what part of the donation is going to be used for what activities. It is quite possible that almost 90% of your money is being used to pay astronomical sums as salaries and perks to IIM-trained MBAs or it is going directly to the proselytizers  without your knowledge.

If you donate to an RSS affiliate, you can rest assured that your money, probably 100 percent of it, will be  used for the actual cause. Most of the RSS affiliates are managed by highly educated and dedicated ‘Jeevanvratis’ who lead the austere and simple lives of sanyasins. Your money will certainly not be used to proselytize. It can of course be used to resist and stop proselytization by developing an alternative infrastructure of social service in our tribal areas to meet the challenge of cash rich missionaries.

You can also be certain about the fact that the RSS workers will never discriminate between people of different castes, creeds and religious denominations when it comes to serving humanity. They are true Hindus, benevolent and generous, even to their enemies. They have been brought up on the staple diet of stories of Shivaji who showed respect to the religious symbols of Islam even while fighting the Muslim rulers who considered it their religious right and duty to destroy Hindu temples and icons.

You must not pay heed to what the media says about the RSS. There is a lot of motivated falsehood that is being spread about it by groups that are directly or indirectly funded by the Church. This is the only organization that is seriously concerned about the unity of this nation and doing its best with all the available means. It understands the ground realities and acts accordingly. That is why it thinks that proselytization should not go unchallenged in the vulnerable tribal regions of India. So, support the initiatives of all the RSS affiliates and other Hindu NGOs in whatever way you can. It is vital because there is no other way that these organizations can take on the mighty Church and beat back the heavily equipped and cash laden army of proselytizing  padres.

What’s more, the Church is doing its utmost to dry up the sources of funds of  these Hindu organizations, with active help from its implants in governments across the world and various NGOs funded by it.

Let us tell the world that Hindus are not as stupid as some may like to believe and we can see through all the political and media games being played to undermine us and we also have the will and capacity to resist and foil the vicious designs and plans of the Church.

A Hindu
 

*Other related articles
Conversion of Vanvasis
Christian Conversions and Terrorism in the North East
Threat to Naga Culture

Link to the web sites of some Hindu NGOs
http://www.vkendra.org/
http://www.vhp.org
http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Related_Sites/Related_Sites.jsp
http://www.vanvasikalyanparishad.org/
http://www.ekalvidya.org/Ekal/index.php