Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Siva Senai - first year end report

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



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