Religious Experiences in America

Historically Hindu temples in India have been routinely attacked, looted, vandalised, deities desecrated and Hindus being persecuted by invaders from the west. Be it Muslims, Greeks, Huns, Portuguese, French or English everyone came to India to attack, plunder and destroy the innate culture and heritage of the land and enslave its hardworking, peaceful (often mistaken for docile) and enterprising people. But unfortunately for the country and its majority populous, this persecution has continued even after we have gained independence from foreign invaders. This is primarily because a large chunk of Hindus are anti-Hindu in the name of being “Secular” which somehow has taken on the definition of being “Anti-Hindu”.

The problem of these seculars and minority appeasers is so much that they have started attacking Hindu temples and trying to destroy them. I recently came across this newsreport about the threat of demolition to a Shirdi Sai Baba temple in my hometown of Bangalore. The article published in the Times of India says that the city’s civic agancy BBMP is of the opinion that the temple violates provisions of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, temple. And of course the temple’s neighbour - wife of a high court judge - is putting pressure on the civic agency to demolish the shrine.

The temple has been in existence since 10 years and is located on private property which has been taken on lease by the temple trust. Apart from the temple the premises also houses a school for the hearing-and-speechimpaired. Now the temple is facing the threat of demolition, I wonder what will happen to the school and the devotees in the area. More than that this is one of the ways Hindus are constantly being pushed to the brink by authorities.

According to the newsreport the judges wife who lives in the vicinity of the temple was irked by the constant ceremonial chanting and bell-ringing at the temple during a recent two-day Namasmarana event (September 16-17). She complained and “asked” the temple authorities to relocate the mandir. When Ramprasad Guruji, president of the trust, tried to talk to her he was warned of consequences if they failed to relocate. And from then on it was a flurry of activity, people in power like a High-Court judge’s wife can summon the government to act upon their whims and fancies. And that is what happened….

At 11 pm the same day, a team of BBMP officials visited the temple, asking for documents. At 6 pm the next day, the trust was informed that the temple will be demolished. “It is not just the decision to demolish the temple that surprises us, but also the speed with which the BBMP arrived at it,” Ramprasad Guruji said.

Right now thanks to the efforts of the devotees and trustees the demolition has been halted by the intervention of the law minister. But the threat remains. At this juncture I wonder why nobody complains when Muslims scream out their prayers five times a day including at unearthly hours? Is it because their prayers are so “Melodious” or is it because they do it everyday and people have gotten used to it? or is it because the muslims are inherently violent and bullies and people including those in power like the Judge’s wife are scared to act against them?

I am sure if the same premises had been a Mosque with a Madrassa or a Church with a Sunday School would they have even considered taking any action? No way… nobody would have dared to raise a whisper against its prayers or programmes.

Unless we Hindus become fearful, we will be pushed around and our temples will continue to face the threat of demolition. So my dear fellow Hindus, like Swami Vivekananda said “Arise, awake…..” this is the time to act and protect ourselves, our culture, our religion and our country.