The areas that the Shiv Senai focuses on . . . . . ,
We are concerned, (deeply concerned) that in the post war
scenario (post May 19, 2009) in the traditional areas of Hindu Tamil habitation
and the areas of the hill country, and we are being marginalized through
(a) aggressive coercive religious conversions to Islam and
Christianity;
(b)
desecration our places of worship with intrusive incursions by Buddhists with
Sri Lankan state support, by Christians with funds from the western world, and
by Islamists with massive funding from the middle eastern countries;
(c) democratic elections to social, local governmental,
provincial governmental and parliamentary bodies where our voters have to
choose candidates from other denominations who do not cater our interests and /
or work against our interests.
How was it conceived . . . .? ,
Simmering voices and agitated minds of those who are sons of
this soil were looking for an outlet or a channel to express their deep
grievances. Even though each village had a Hindu group or association or
organisation, even though there were few national level organisations, these
bodies were concentrating on maintaining traditional beliefs and values.
None were focusing on the threat to these beliefs and values
from issues raised in (a) to (c) of above. 30 years of war had given them a
sense of fear. They were reluctant voicing groups. The defeat in the war had
made them near-sterile. They were vegetables or living caricatures.
Those with certain amount of courage of conviction were
considered ‘dangerous or troublesome’. There had been periodical unrelated
groupings, haphazardly meeting (by the so-called "dangerous and
troublesome") to focus on the 3 situations.
Somewhere in August 2016, I was invited to one of such meetings.
They asked for my views. I suggested the name Siva Senai, against few other long
names proposed for an organisation. It was a crisp, catchy name, forceful
enough to convey a strong message to the alien cultural intruders. Many in the
meeting rose to their feet with spontaneity to applaud the proposed name.
Later during early October 2016 we met at Vavuniya. It was a
meeting of representatives from the loose groupings from the 16 districts of
Sri Lanka. They asked me to be the national convener. Even though we discussed
many issues through the day-long consultation, only the above three issues were
solidified as the main plank problems to be tackled by Siva Senai. We postponed
the formalization of the organisation to a later date when we will be ready
with a steppe-structure for functioning.
What are the concerns that you hope to address through the
organisation?
As outlined in the para for your first question
How has the journey been in the past one year?
We were able to perform. We met challenges squarely. We faced
situations with courage and ease. We were careful not to tread into any law and
order disturbing situation. We worked within the laws of the land. I will list
you the important situations we met.
1. Moonraampiddy Mannar. A Christian priest had
blocked a passage to a Hindu temple by erecting a fence across a public
pathway. This fence had been there for three years. Festivals in the Hindu
temple were scaled down. Representations did not bear fruit. I went to the
site. I started removing the poles of the fencing. The temple devotees came to
me and said that it would spark a communal violence. I phoned the district /
divisional administration from there. I told them that I needed protection to
go to worship; a matter of my fundamental right. They were aware of the ground
situation. They had not acted so far. The divisional administrator asked me to
give him 4 days to remove the fence. On the fourth day the fence was removed by
a team of officials. What could not be done by the local associations for three
long years, the name Siva Senai made it? Believe me I was alone at the site
when I attempted to remove the fencing.
2. Vellankulam, Mannar. Eight feet high
Christian Cross was clandestinely installed overnight on 14th January 2017 by a
Catholic priest and his 'devotees' in the middle of a Hindu village. We
objected. We approached the local and divisional administration. Nothing
happened. After 3 months of waiting, on 23th April 2017, the Cross was removed
by the Hindus. Of course the Christians retaliated breaking a Vinayaka idol
alongside the road, and threatened to destroy few Hindu temples in the area.
Police registered a case. When I went to the police station of the area, the
Office in Charge praised the patience shown by the Hindus for so long. Now
there is a police post in the Hindu village.
3. Pandatharippu, Jaffna. A church had come up
in a land adjoining a Hindu temple land. There are no Christians in the area.
That was a missionary church. We objected. So we started working on
a Hindu temple. The Christian priest went to the police. I was summoned. I
explained the situation. I spoke of the traditional worshiping rights. Police
dismissed the compliant. Priest was advised to seek relief, if any, from
courts. We were free to build a Hindu temple, the police said.
4. St. Anne School, Manipay, Jaffna. Principal,
Sister Dorothy agreed to withdraw forthwith, the 100 year (or so) old ban for
students in the school on wearing Holy Ash and Thilak in their foreheads. That
was a Hindu majority student’s school.
5. Mukathankulam, Vavuniya. President of an
Agricultural Society, a Christian, prevented the furtherance of construction
and / or repair of a Hanuman temple. The prevention was not valid in law. I
intervened and after 3 years, now the reconstruction work had started. That is
a Hindu majority village. Hindus are not as educated as the Christians. So they
elected a Christian as the President. Now we have pasted big wall posters all
over the village asking Hindu voters to elect Hindu candidates-only in any
election. Also we have erected Nandhi flag poles in each of the 156 Hindu
houses in that village. Most of them start their day by performing pooja to the
Nandhi flag inside their compound. Volunteers help them to begin with.
6. Thenmaradchi, Jaffna. Large scale thefts of oxen
for meat were the order of the day. The thieves were funded by the licensee
butcher cum trader, a Muslim in the area. But the abattoir was full of off-the-licence oxen or stolen oxen. We started
a massive poster campaign calling for ban on the sale of oxen for meat. We went
to the Police Chief of the District in a delegation. The nexus between some
corrupt in the police and the licensee on the thefts of oxen was exposed. We
had the support of the Buddhist organisations in this effort. Now the situation
is very much under control with occasional thefts. Even the District Judge had
warned the butcher against hurting the sentiments of the Hindu public.
7. Neeravi, Anurathapuara. On the last day of
Navarathri, non-Hindus (Muslims) attacked Hindu devotees inside sanctum sanctorum
of the Shakthi temple, knifing a devotee on his skull, breaking the idols and
crating panic to wilfully disturb the Navarthri Festival. A Swamiji from the
Chinmaya Mission joined us to be on the spot, the next day. We met the hospital
expenses of the Hindu victim all through his treatment, held a meeting of the
devotees inside the temple, restored the holiness through ceremonies, and met
the Governor, District administrator, Police Chief and a Buddhist prelate. The
Hindus are a minority there. They lacked leadership. Now they are strongly
linked to us. They feel more secure.
8. Thallady, Chemantivu, Admapan, Mannar. Idols of
Vinayaka statues were broken in 3 road side structures overnight on the same
day. We saw them in the dawn. Before dusk new statues were in place. Sheds
erected. Women devotees offered prayers by boiling rice with milk and sweet as
per tradition. A week later these structures were also vandalized to be broken
to be replaced immediately by us.
9. Kanakapuram Shakthi temple, Kilinochchi. An
Army camp is situated adjoining the temple. An eight to nine feet high statue
of Buddha was erected on the pirakara of the temple by the army. This pirakara
is the annual chariot festival pirakara. Any number of protests is not helping.
Matters were taken up at the highest level. In protest I walked along with
around 1000 devotees for 8 km to make representations at the UN office at
Kilinochchi. Buddhism being the state priority religion and the army is a
Buddhist army, Hindu voices are ignored. Defeat in the war is the reason. This
is Buddhist expansionism and aggression. There are no Buddhists in the area
except those in the army. Mr Rama Ravikumar, Secretary of the Indhu Makkal
Kadchi in Tamil Nadu visited the place along with me. He is a witness to this
atrocious Buddhist expansionism.
10. Kokkilai, Mullaitivu. A land belonging to the
Vinayaka temple has been taken over to construct a Buddhist priesthood complex.
Kokkilai is a village of 300 Hindu families. There are no Buddhists in the
village. However a minister in the Government encouraged a Buddhist priest to
do these mean things to the complete disadvantage of the Hindus. The Vinayaka
temple is not there now. The trustee of the Vinayaka temple told me that he
will commit suicide being unable to perform his religious duties. Court cases
are of no use as they get dragged. Mr Rama Ravikumar, Secretary of the Indhu
Makkal Kadchi in Tamil Nadu visited the place along with me. He is a witness to
this atrocious Buddhist expansionism.
11. Indupuram, Murikandy, Oddusuddan Mullaitivu. A
recent convert to Christianity, has built a shed structure in the frontage of a
Shiva temple. He lives there. He prevents religious assembly of devotees. So
they constructed another temple by the side. During the consecration ceremony
the encroacher played a loud speaker with Christian songs. Later he threw
fish-washed dirty water over the Shiva Linga. Any number of complaints with the
police does not deter him. The administration had asked him to vacate. He
refuses. So we had a demonstration. We will be successful.
12. Sithamparapuram, Vavuniya. Conversions to
Christianity were rampant. It is a Hindu village with few temples around. But
the missionaries were active. We invited Mr. Rama Ravikumar, Secretary, Indhu
Makkal Kadchi, Tamil Nadu. He stayed in Cheidamparapuram for 10 days. He was
able to re-convert or bring back the converted. At least 25 families who sang
Aluloya are singing the Hindu Arokara at home.
13. Neeravi, Anurathapura. Mr Rama
Ravikumar Secretary, Indhu Makkal Kadchi, Tamil Nadu was there for a day.
He performed paatha pooja to the depressed groups. During his stay few families
were re-converted to Hinduism. He left his local disciple there who has
re-converted few more families to Hinduism after his departure.
14. Kadavaipulavu,
Chunnakam, Jaffna. Jehovah Witness missionaries began construction of a
Church within the Hindu village. Initially the local body did not process their
papers for permission to build. However they used the good offices of a
Christian official to obtain the permission. We intervened. Nobody listened to
us. At all levels of officialdom we had negative response. We met the Chief
Minister of the Northern Province who is also the Minister for Local
Government. He ordered for an inquiry. The building permit was cancelled. The
missionaries packed up. Mr. Mazumdar from the editorial board of Swarajajya,
Bangaluru, visited the abandoned site during his visit to Jaffna.
15. Mediapuaram, Cheddikulam,
Vavuniya. A pastor was travelling to Mediapuram to work with the
rehabilitated fighters. One of them has an irreversible medical condition. The
pastor moved in. He conducted prayers. He provided food and clothing. He
supported the education of children. The family did not appreciate these
visits. But the husband / father accommodated the pastor’s request to install a
picture of Christ in their shrine room. Later the pastor asked the family to
remove the pictures of Hindu deities. The family resisted. We intervened. The
family had now removed the picture of Christ. A Nandhi flag pole is in front of
the house. A donor is supporting the educational expenses of the only son in
the family. Another donor is providing sheds with cattle. There were four other
houses in the area which came under the influence of the pastor. We intervened.
The pastor does not visit the village any more.
16. We
are in the process of pasting big wall posters (100, 000 in number) all over
asking Hindu Tamil voters to vote only for
Hindu candidates in any election, be it for parliament, provincial council,
village council, community centre, cooperatives and / or agriculture societies.
17. We
are in the process of training priests who will concentrate on preaching /
house hold visiting / community work / community welfare programmes, reducing
their performance of rituals. A batch of 40 will be trained in January.
18. Our contact
with Indian Hindu organisations also is helpful. Tamil Nadu
Indu Makkal Kadchi has sent its representative twice. Goa based Hindu Jana
Jagurithi sent two representatives who toured for a week, the conversion
susceptible areas. Mr. Mazumdar, from Meghalaya, a Hindu activist and a member
of the editorial board of the Bangalore based Swarajya journal visited affected
areas and spoke to the media. I am in touch with Hindu activists in Bihar,
Bengal, Telengana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. I am inviting them to be with us
for few days to rejuvenate those depressed Hindu folks in Sri Lanka.
19. Siva
Senai successfully negotiated with the Government of Sri Lanka through the
Governor of the Northern Province to permit a pilgrim ship to
Chidambaram in India during Maarkazhi Thiruvembavai festival days. Government
of Sri Lanka had instructed the Navy, Immigration, Customs, Port Authority and
the Passport office to provide the necessary support for the pilgrims. The
bottle neck is with the clearance from Government of India. I was in Delhi. I
met the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, Mrs Chithranganee. I met Mr. Satheesh, coordinator
for Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs. I spoke to Mr. Dinoy
George, and Mr Sivaguru both at the Sri Lankan desk of the Ministry of External
Affairs. In Chennai, I met Deputy Chief Minister Mr. O. P. Panneerselvam, Mr.
Niranjan Mardi, Home Secretary, Mr. Samayamurthy, and Joint Secretary Public,
all of the Government of Tamil Nadu. If GOI will give clearance, then the
poorest of the poor who are in the conversion-susceptible group will have the
opportunity of pilgrimage to Chidambaram. That will be a morale booster to
them. They cannot afford a plane travel which is now normal for the affordable.
A ship from the northern port of Kankeyanthurai to the port Cuddalore in Tamil
Nadu, a distance of 150 nautical miles, with a travel time of 5 to 6 hours,
costing less than SLR 5000 for the pilgrims will give the Hindus of Sri Lanka
the strength of mind, attachment to their beliefs, interaction with fellow
Hindus in India and an intransigent devotion to Siva, their all-powerful God.
20. Print + Digital media coverage both in Sri
Lanka and India, apart from cyber-social media, gave Siva Senai an image. The
Christian Church, The Buddhist Sanga and the Muslim groups are aware of the
pro-active campaign we are conducting. They are watching us intensely. We have
had adverse comments from the so-called Tamil Nationalists in Sri Lanka who say
that we are dividing the Tamils. Then there are the anti-Hinduthuvists in Tamil
Nadu who say unsavoury words. Cyber social media portrays me both ways. When we
worked at Indhupuram Sivan temple, there were personal attacks, character
assassinations and words of vendetta. Many link us with Thakarey's Shiv Sena.
Many say that we are funded by RAW of India. Many are appreciative. Many come
forward with funds. We remain transparent, accounting for every cent we spend.
Is the organisation limited to just a few areas in the
country or are there are plans of expansion?
We are working both ways. Strengthening our unit level structure
is our prime time effort. We seek to enlarge island wide, but are careful.
Fingers cannot swell off its size. Of the 25 of Sri Lanka, in 16 districts,
Hindus are in cognizable number. Now Siva Senai has strong presence in 6
districts. We have contacts in other districts. Our name is used by those
affected. The name itself jitters the cultural intruders. There were some
posters in our name. We do not know who printed / pasted them. They were within
our stated objectives so we did not bother.
In what ways are you inspired by the RSS in India?
My personal contacts with RSS date back to 1960. But I was
not in close touch.
RSS until recent times was little known among Hindus in Sri
Lanka
As Secretary General of the Sri Lankan YMHA Federation, I met Mr
A. B. Vajapayee in Colombo, hosted a dinner in his honour, when he came for the
Inter Parliamentary Union meet in 1975.
As Secretary General of the Sri Lankan YMHA Federation, I sent
four delegates to the Varanasi VHP convention in 1977.
I got in touch with Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy in 1986, thereafter
we were very close. I was close to Mr. Shanmuganathan (later Governor,
Meghalaya). Both had their roots in RSS.
Almost all in the present hierarchy of Tamil Nadu BJP are
familiar.
I am good friend of Mr. Vethaantham VHP unit Tamil Nadu.
I cannot understand the posturing of the RSS / VHP that Hindus
and Buddhists are the same?
RSS / VHP do not understand that the 7th century revival of
Saivaism and Vaishnavism in Tamil Nadu had its roots in the Buddhist - Jain
hegemony. Saivaites absorbed the best in both philosophies but refused to be
part of their expansionism. To ask us to work with Buddhists is impossible.
After the Buddhist Muslim riots of 1915, Hindu leader Sir P.
Ramanathan was responsible for the release from the British prison of about
4000 to 5000 Buddhists. The Buddhist did not show their gratitude.
Racial attacks on Hindus and Hindu temples by Buddhists became
the norm in post independent Sri Lanka. More so after the Constitution of
Sri Lanka bestowed in 1972, Buddhism a priority position at the cost of
Hinduism.
RSS and VHP have their instituted organisations in Sri Lanka.
They work closely with Buddhists. It is not acceptable to those in Siva Senai.
Siva Senai works for the Saivaite Hindus. It is not in antipathy
to other religions.
Saivaites are in the same situation as they were in 5th 6th
centuries with regards to Buddhists.
Saivaites are in the same situation as they were in 16th
centuries with regards to Christians.
Saivaites are in the same situation as they were in 14th century
Malik Kafoor era with regards to Muslims.
We have also the historical reason not to budge.
We had Nayanmars to face Buddhists / Jains.
We had Nayakar kings to face Muslims.
We had Arumuga Navalar to face Christians.
It is like Marathi + Hindu for Shiv Sena.
It is Tamil + Saiva Hindu for Siva Senai.
I hope I answered your queries.
Thanks and Regards
