American Ceylon Mission

Attacks on Hindus by American Ceylon Mission

Maravanpulavu K. Sachithananthan,

Siva Senai, Sri Lanka 

It is as though three white markings of sacred ash (Vibhuthi or ThiruNeeru) have been pasted on the students’ foreheads. This holy ash, symbol of Saiva Hindu faith, proudly adorns every forehead as the children enter the Thellipalai Union College, a school in northernmost Sri Lanka. 

Of them, only around a 100 are non-Hindus. The majority of students, around 900, are Saivaite Hindus. They come to school, early in the morning adorning the three white bands of sacred ash in their forehead. 

Most of them come in bicycles. The school Principal has allotted an area for the bicycle park. That area is around an unused old depleted building, which was once the residence of the school principal. 

In 1813 CE when the Christian Reverend Samuel Newell arrived at Thellipalai in Jaffna (in northern Ceylon), his point of irritation was seeing these triple-lined holy ash on the foreheads of every one he saw. “They were Satan infested”, he raged within. Colonial Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg encouraged him to formulate ways of erasing these triple markings of sacred ash adorning the foreheads most Hindu people in Jaffna. Thus the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) came into existence. 

The word “Mission” is defined thus - “Christian Mission is an organised effort to spread Christianity. Missions often involve sending individuals and groups, called missionaries, across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, for the purpose of proselytise (conversion to Christianity, or from one Christian tradition to another); this involves evangelism (preaching a set of beliefs for the purpose of conversion), and humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged.” (Lawrence Loresio, Christian mission Christianity, page 1)

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28: 16–20)

“We must at present do our best to form a class, who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect”. … “A single shelf of good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia” - Lord Macaulay’s Minutes on Indian Education, 2nd February 1835.

Thus the overriding intention of the American Ceylon Mission in the Jaffna peninsula, was evangelization among Hindu Saivaites. Education was a tool and a prelude to evangelization. Their cunning tactics were:

- Recruit Saiva Hindu children in the guise of educating them. 

- Restrict and allow entry only to those students who agree to discard the holy ash. 

- Restrict and allow entry to those with European names (converts). 

- The Tamil Hindu sacred scripture “Thirukkural” says that the earth is a globe. Bible says that the earth is flat. So, Discard Thirukkural to accept the Bible. 

- Saivaite Hindu invention was cipher (numerical zero in the Hindu decimal system). Cipher is a phonetic derivative of Saiva. Discard cipher to accept Romanised numerals. Don’t use 10. Use X. 

- Hindu New Year is born on an astronomically calculated date. Discard that to accept the non-scientific date which coincides with Jesus era.

- Discard the home grown scientific concepts to accept the stagnant unscientific alien dogma.

The “Educate to evangelise” mission was a big failure at Thellipalai. Numerous missionaries followed the lead missionary Rev. Edward Warren. All failed to make any impact. 

The 1810 CE USA Massachusetts formulation, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission’s vision (to convert and make every Jaffna man into a Christian) failed miserably.

There were only a few rice-bowl Christians. These rice-bowl converts were brainwashed and told that Saivaite Hindu population and their beliefs are inferior to European ways. Dr. Samuel Green proclaimed, “I’ll go to a land of darkness and heal the bodies and enlighten the minds of some error bound people”.

When the two arrogant Christian women at Thellipalai, slapped the cheeks of the innocent post-primary Saiva Hindu students (adorned with the triple lined holy ash in their foreheads) and beat them with wooden logs on the prime of the morning of 9th April 2021, they were echoing the USA Massachusetts formulation of 1810 CE. 

‘Slapping on the face is violence’ ostensibly according to Jesus Christ. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Mathew 5-38, 39).

However, for the American Ceylon Mission, if Hindu students park their bicycles in their rightful parking area, then the Christians can slap them on their faces, and break their bones with sticks until they are hospitalised. 

They justify their deviation from their own scriptures because the holy ash triple lined forehead is “satanic”. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is the norm for ACM?

Two bigoted Christian women, tools in the hands of a few malicious Christian clerics, beat Hindu students with wooden logs to the point of hospitalisation, courting arrest by the Jaffna police, all in the name of Christ.

Knowing very well, attacking the Principal for allocating the bicycle park in an area inside the school could have been disastrous, they attacked the innocent students.. They could have been booked also for preventing a government official from doing his duty in addition to the criminal charges on the violent attack. The clerics who master-minded the attack knew very well the consequences of violently attacking a public servant while on duty.

Unprovoked manifestation of violence in the formative minds of innocent students could prove disastrous in the long run. Many decades ago, when a frail Hindu priest was kerosene-doused and burnt alive inside a Hindu temple by a mob in southern Sri Lanka, a formative young mind (located hundreds of kilometres away in the distant north) promised to take revenge. Consequently, this beautiful island was pushed into four decades-long cycle of revenge killings.

“Come what may, the supposed trespasser deserves kicks and beatings”, told the Christian clerics to the two Christian women attackers while ostensibly saying the following at the pulpit: “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”.

Ruthless violence, encouraging mayhem towards rioting has been part of Portuguese, Dutch and English invaders’ pogromed program of Christian colonisation. “Reduce your oppressor to ashes” was their motto. What happened at Thellipalai on 9th April 2021 was reminiscent of this Christian invaders’ legacy. 

How can one in the name of Christ, slap the tender soft innocent lovely cheeks of those post-primary kids. These tender Hindu children came to learn. Their parents had high hopes on the future of these kids. Unprovoked, the two Satanic Christian women abused, kicked, and thrashed these innocent children with wooden logs with the full backing of Christian clerics. That shock will remain in the subconscious minds of these kids for a long time to come. Revenge may be an unavoidable consequence.

All in the name of retrieving a piece of land with a depleted building inside the school premises. Except for the 122 ft. by 125 ft. area with the church, all remaining land (once property of the Arulmiku Amman Shakti Hindu temple under the sacred Nagalinga tree (Couroupita guianensis), which was destroyed by the invading Christian Portuguese), was handed to the state, the Government gazette notification says.

The best way to settle the dispute would have been to follow Jesus, who said, “If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well”. (Mathew 5-40), and give away even the 122 ft. by 125 ft. area with the church. On the contrary if you disobey everything that Jesus have commanded you (as in Matthew 28: 16–20) then bring the dispute before the civil court. 

A Christian nun was seen carrying a placard at a procession in Jaffna. It read, “Did Buddha preach you to encroach into other peoples lands?” She was pointing her finger at the post-independent Sri Lankan Buddhist hegemony. She conveniently forgot the 400 years Christian encroachment into Hindu lands. Hypocrisy inadequately described!

Post-war violence by organised Christianity is on the rise in the Hindu heartland of Sri Lanka. To cite a few of the many instances:

1. A Christian cleric had the audacity to block the procession pathway, public road, of a Hindu temple continuously for 4 years at Moontraampiddy, in Mannar District, until I intervened to remove the block. 

2. A Christian cleric led a gang of thugs armed with wooden logs to beat Hindu neighbours at a village in Musali in Mannar district. The village has been renamed forcibly as Xavierpuram (after the Mannar Inquisiton’s infamous Francis Xavier). On seeing the video clipping of this horror, I rushed to Musali to be with the Hindus.

3. Media freedom was threatened when Christian hooligans threatened the “Valampuri” Tamil Newspaper office in Jaffna for publishing a news on renaming of Hindu-named roads in a Hindu-majority area with Christian names. I protested by observing a dawn-to-dusk fast in front of the Bishops House, Jaffna.

4. Government land in a Saivaite Hindu-majority Niladhari division, Thanakalappu, (with no other religionists) is being encroached by the Christian Bishop of Jaffna. When I wrote to the Divisional Secretary, she wrote to the Bishop to vacate forthwith and remove the falsely-claiming name board. 

5. A Christian cleric is among the accused who led the mob and demolished the Maha Shivarathri arch at the historical Thiru Ketheeshwaram Shiva temple, (erased to the ground by Christian Portuguese invaders 400 years ago). 

Institutionalised Christian groups are engaged in pre-planned organised violence on Hindus. Very many instances could be cited in recent years. This recent Thellipalai incident is not out of sudden provocation. It has been on the anvil for few months. 

In almost all cases of planned institutionalised Christian violence against Hindus, Hindus never retaliated. We Hindus protested non-violently. We also took these violent provocations to the attention of the police and through them to the courts.

American Ceylon Mission is on a war path on Hindus. They are behaving as though this sacred Shiva Bhoomi is a Christian colony of the West. They are invoking the Biblical directive, followed by the directives of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions established in 1810 CE. ACM is funded by a trust in the US. With foreign funding, American Ceylon Mission is promoting violence in Sri Lanka.

If only they, “obey everything that Jesus have commanded” (Matthew 28: 16–20) and live as Christians, then that will promote inter-faith peace, harmony and understanding not only with Hindus but also with Buddhists and Mohamedans in Sri Lanka .

If they do not apologize for these violent provocations at Thellipalai, and seek pardon from those innocent students, I strongly appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka to ban the American Ceylon Mission in Sri Lanka.

PS: Video of the two Christian women (backed by Christian clerics) attacking the Thellipalai Union College students can be seen in short clip below: 

https://youtu.be/l1xpVk8Qn4k