The agenda of the Church

Generally there is an utter lack of understanding in both India and Sri Lanka about the tricky role played by the Church which has been exclusively focusing on forming a “Tamil Christian Nation”, a combination of the Indian State of Tamil Nadu and the North-East of Sri Lanka. That is why the Church backed the LTTE, influenced its leadership, usurped the Diaspora leadership, and formed an unholy nexus with the Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu. It is unfortunate that the Tamil people have failed to understand the Church in this regard. 

The formation of a Tamil Christian Nation will help the Church to Christianise Sri Lanka quickly, given its influence over the Sri Lankan leadership. It will also help the Church to Christianise South India next, so that the South will get culturally alienated from India, as has happened in the Northeast. Already Hindus have become minorities in Kerala, while Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are in the severe grip of evangelization. The Tamil Dravidian parties, Congress, Communist parties and other secular (sic) outfits such as Janata Dal, TRS and TDP, etc., are always prepared to crawl before the Church asks them to bend.  

This Christianisation started since the European Missionaries landed in Indian and Sri Lankan shores and established themselves, especially in the colonial period. Despite independence, the process of Christianisation has increased, thanks to the imposition of the Christian concept called ‘secularism’ by the political leadership of both countries, showing scant regard to the native cultural heritage and religious traditions.

Church’s strategies

The strategies adopted by the Church to achieve this goal can be summed up as:

1.      Influencing the leadership of both LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government

2.      Influencing the leadership of the Dravidian Parties of Tamil Nadu and forming an unholy nexus with them; spreading the myth of “Christian Missionaries’ contribution to Tamil” (1)

3.      Acquiring vast stretches of lands, as much as possible, in the name of education and health care, and planting Churches along the stretches so that neighbourhood citizens are coerced and converted easily

4.      Baptizing Thiruvalluvar, hijacking Thirukkural and doing things in his name. Inventing a St. Thomas-Thiruvalluvar connection and spreading that myth. Thiruvalluvar and Thirukkural are a stop gap arrangement, a transit point, through which the transformation from Hindu to Christianity takes place (2)

5.      Sowing anti-Veda and anti-Sanskrit poison and dividing the Saiva Mathams, thereby separating a section in the name of “Tamil Saivam” and controlling them. A few Saiva Mutts, who flirt with the Atheist Dravidian Parties, are allegedly backed by the Church to go all out against Vedic culture, Agama Worship and Sanskrit usage

6.      Corrupting the secretariats and officials of Vaishnava Mutts and Saiva Adheenams and purchasing their lands through them, thereby liquidating their assets immensely. Many Mutts have sold their lands to Christians.

7.      Influencing the Government to interfere in Temple affairs and harass the Mathams and Adheenams through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department. Changing Hindu traditions through government ordinances to suit their agenda.

8.      Erasing “Hindu” identity and establishing a “Tamil” identity through inculturation, Tamil chauvinism and Tamil separatism, with the intention to totally Christianise the state.   

Present status of Tamil Nadu

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, the Church has established a clear nexus with all the Dravidian parties and Dalit outfits, notwithstanding its hegemony over the Congress party, which now owes its allegiance to the Vatican. As a result, all four pillars of democracy are wreaking havoc on Hindus, Hindu temples, Hindu culture, Hindu tradition and ultimately the Hindu identity of the state itself.

Dalits are rapidly getting alienated from the Hindu fold due to the onslaught of Christian Missionaries and foreign-funded Christian NGOs, as evidenced by the rampant conversions across the state; thousands of ancient temples are left unattended to ruin by the HR & CE Department as authenticated by the fact that thousands of ancient temples do not have the resources to conduct at least one-time puja or do not have even oil to light the lamps; street temples are destroyed by civic authorities in the name of clearing encroachments, but the same space is allowed for vendors from minority communities to run businesses; temple lands are sold or leased to atheist politicians and non-Hindus; shops around big and famous temples are allotted to minorities for vending, a fact seen at any famous temple in the state.

Hindus are made to discriminate against each other through government-controlled ‘ticketing’ systems for worship in temples, and recently the various charges increased five times; temple rituals are changed as per the whims and fancy of politicians and bureaucrats; age-old traditional festivals and religious traditions are changed through ordinances and government orders, the change of Tamil New Year and stopping of Brahmma Ratham ceremony in Srirangam Temple being apt examples; mutt heads and micro minority communities like Dikshidars are harassed by design to take over temples under their control.

Also, there is no sealing for purchase of lands by the Church; Churches and Prayer Houses are allowed to flourish disproportionate to Christian population; conversion activities by the Church are not checked; no screening of huge foreign funds received by the Church and Christian NGOs; no regulation of foreign-funded and Christian-dominated mass media which are bent upon destroying Tamil Hindu culture as evidenced by the various programs aired by channels like SUN TV, VIJAY TV and Kalaignar TV. Even Chennai Doordarshan allows a flurry of evangelical programs violating its own code of ethics, rules and regulations (3)

Hindus are not getting full justice from the Courts of Tamil Nadu and the judiciary is influenced by the state government while hearing issues concerning Hindus, as evidenced by the Rama Sethu, Chidambaram Temple and many such cases. A case filed against Vijay TV for hurting Hindu sentiments was dismissed without proper hearing. Another case against the demolition of Street Temples was haphazardly handled by the High Court and not taken to its logical conclusion (4)

Solomon-Samuel Effect

The present situation in Sri Lanka is not encouraging for Tamil Hindus. In fact, it is getting worse with the government yielding to the Machiavellian agenda of the Church. President Rajapakse seems to have a soft corner for the Church and Christian organizations, even while exhibiting Sinhala chauvinism through some of his activities.

To understand the Christian domination of the polity, one needs to go back to the early 1950s. Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, born to Anglican Christian parents, converted to Buddhism for obvious political reasons and raised the evil concept of ‘Racism’ in the run-up to the general elections in 1956. After forming the ‘Sinhala Maha Saba’ in 1936, he backed the United National Party, enjoyed ministerial positions, and in 1951 withdrew from UNP and formed his own ‘Sri Lanka Freedom Party’ (SLFP). He announced the “Sinhala Only” policy, adopted it as electoral strategy in 1956, and swept the southern electorate. He became Prime Minister and immediately made ‘Sinhalese’ as the Official Language, despite the fact that Tamils (excluding Muslims) constituted 25% of the Island Nation’s population.

Meanwhile, Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayakam, a member of the ‘Ceylon American Mission’, founded the “Federal Party” aka ‘Tamil Arasu Katchi’ and lost the Kankesanthurai seat from which he contested the 1952 elections. Later, SWRD Bandaranaike’s “Sinhala Only” cry galvanized the Tamil population behind SVJ Chelvanayakam and helped him win the 1956 elections.

The immediate fall out of the ‘Sinhala Only Act’ was the ‘Gal Oya Riots’ in which hundreds of Tamils died in the eastern province. Eventually, Bandaranaike negotiated with Chelvanayakam and concluded the “Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact”. But failure to implement the pact on the advice of the United National Party led to the infamous “1958 Riots” from 22 May to 27 May 1958; violence, arson and loot spread across the Island.  

The government called in the military to quell the violence and restore order. But sporadic violence continued and at last in 1958, the government passed The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act - which provided for the use of Tamil language as a medium of instruction, of examination for admission to the Public Service, for use in state correspondence and for administrative purposes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces – which formed a part of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact. The passing of this Act eventually led to the murder of Bandaranaike by a Buddhist Clergy in 1959.

Samuel Chelvanayakam died in 1976 after 20 years of politics from 1956 to 1976, during which he achieved nothing. He never lived in the Tamil dominated North-East, but in Colombo, practicing as an Attorney at Law; his family spoke only English at home. He picked up Tamil later and was the first to call for an “Independent Dravida Nadu” on either side of the Palk Straits. Being Christian, he worked towards fulfilling the agenda of the Church, which ultimately led to the marginalization of the Tamil people from the Sri Lankan mainstream.

Chelvanayakam’s co-founder of the Federal Party was another Christian, EMV Naganathan, whose daughter Anne Nirmala Naganathan was married to Chelvanayakam-Emily Grace’s son Samuel Chandrahasan. Chandrahasan didn’t prefer to stay in Sri Lanka during the entire period of conflict, but focused more on the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. A soft-spoken person, he had good contacts with both DMK and AIADMK leaderships. Reliable sources from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu say that, apart from being a fervent Dravidian ideologue, he is a member of the Church of South India and Ceylon American Mission, because of which Christian Missionaries and NGOs had whale of a good time ‘harvesting’ in the refugee camps across Tamil Nadu.

Rajapakse’s moves

President Percy Mahinda Rajapakse is contemplating elections for the Northern Province, which has been demerged from the erstwhile North-eastern Province. Sources say Rajapakse’s Sri Lankan Freedom Party, founded by SWRD Bandaranaike, intends to field Chandrahasan as its Chief Ministerial candidate and government missionaries are expected to ensure his victory.

It must be noted that the erstwhile ‘Federal Party’ is the present TNA (Tamil National Alliance), which was supportive of the LTTE, as both were backed by the Roman Catholic Church. While the Northern Province is 80% Hindu, Rajapakse has appointed five new Government Agents (District Collectors) out of which four are Christians, namely Emelda Sukumar for Jaffna, Nicholaspillai for Mannar, Mrs. Ketheeswaram (a Born Again Christian) for Killinochi and Mrs. Charles for Vavuniya. With Samuel Chandrahasan as Chief Minister, Christian dominance will be complete in the Hindu majority north.

However, latest reports say Nicholaspillai has been removed following complaints by a senior Muslim Minister that he was working with the Roman Catholic Bishop to deny rights to returning Muslims. The only Hindu Government Agent from Mullaithivu district has been transferred to Mannar district in place of Nicholaspillai and a Mannar Christian named Pattinathan has been appointed GA for the predominantly Hindu district of Mullaithivu. Four out of five GAs being Christian is deliberately disproportionate to the Hindu Northern Province. This shows Rajapakse’s scheming and dangerous mind. 

Church planting activities are already on the rise in the north, starting from Mannar, exactly opposite Rameswaram; evangelization of the north would be complete soon. Chandrahasan, with his close rapport with the Dravidian parties and Church backing, is likely to revive the call for “Tamil Nationalism”, a return to the politics of his father.

This may probably be intended to ensure a Dravidian monolith on either side of the Palk Straits, which would certainly impact on Indian security interests. Both evangelization and Tamil Nationalism would undermine Buddhism. Rajapakse cannot feign ignorance on all this. This move by Rajapakse raises questions about his intentions.

The fact that Rajapakse is ‘not clean’ can be confirmed by his latest move in the field of academics. He is bent upon making one Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, though he is a rabid Christian with anti-India / anti-Hindu bias. Despite strong protests from Sri Lankan Hindu academicians and intelligentsia, it seems Rajapakse will be successful in placing Ratnajeevan Hoole at the University of Jaffna, which stands on the erstwhile Parameshwara College, a Hindu institution founded by the great Hindu leader Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Ratnajeevan Hoole has viciously attacked Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan through his writings (5)

References: -

(1): - http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1324

Myth of Christian contribution to Tamil – 1, 21 Jul 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1325

Myth of Christian contribution to Tamil – 2, 22 Jul 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1326

Myth of Christian contribution to Tamil – 3, 23 Jul 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1327

Myth of Christian contribution to Tamil – 4, 24 Jul 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1328

Myth of Christian contribution to Tamil – 5, 25 Jul 2010

(2): - http://www.newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=29&id=8961

`Baptising' Thiruvalluvar to `besiege' the Hindus!;  07 July, 2008

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1220

Mythical Thomas Devious Theivanayagam and Conniving Church – I, 13 May 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1221

Mythical Thomas, Devious Theivanayagam and Conniving Church – 2, 14 May 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1222

Mythical Thomas, Devious Theivanayagam and Conniving Church – 3, 15 May 2010

(3): - http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1168

Christianisation of Chennai Doordarshan's Podhigai Channel – 1, 7 Apr 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1170

Christianisation of Chennai Doordarshan's Podhigai Channel – 2, 9 Apr 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=891

Electronic Media and Hindu Sentiments – I, 26 Oct 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=892

Electronic Media and Hindu Sentiments – 2, 27 Oct 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=895

Electronic Media and Hindu Sentiments – 3, 28 Oct 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=940

Electronic media and Hindu sentiments – A sequel, 20 Nov 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1003

‘NIJAM’ (TRUTH): The true face of SUN TV-I, 25 Dec 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1004

‘NIJAM’ (TRUTH) – The true face of SUN TV-II, 26 Dec 2009

(4): - http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=940

Electronic media and Hindu sentiments – A sequel, 20 Nov 2009

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1504

Anatomy of ‘justice’ in our courts – I, 18 Nov 2010

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1505

Anatomy of 'justice' in our courts – II, 19 Nov 2010

(5): - http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/12/prof-hoolevice-chancellor-of-jaffna.html

http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/04/post_512.html

(To be continued…)