The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) released a press note on Monday, June 26, chalking out its action plan for the 60 years of its foundation in 2024. The Hindi organisation has said that it plans to enrol more than one crore members and raise its (Shakhas) units to one lakh with 15 lakh Karyakartas who will be working towards curbing the growing menace of love jihad, illegal religious conversions, demolition of temples and growing hate speeches against Hindu beliefs and deities across the country.
Press Note:
— Vishva Hindu Parishad -VHP (@VHPDigital) June 27, 2022
VHP Announces Action Plan for 2024 and Demands Full Stop on Love Jihad, Illegal Conversions, Jihadi-Missionary Violence and Hate Speeches. pic.twitter.com/49abiDymF1
While addressing a press conference in Chennai, VHP’s joint secretary Dr Surendra Jain raised concerns over the demolition and destruction of Hindu Temples, the menace of love jihad and illegal religious conversions and growing hate speeches against Hindu beliefs and deities that have been plaguing different parts of the country, especially Tamil Nadu.
Jain said that all state governments should enact laws to curb illegal conversions and Love Jihad. The growing menace of acquisition and demolition of temples in discreet manner and hate speeches against Hindu beliefs and deities must also be stopped forthwith, he demanded. Calling Tamil Nadu the flag bearer of the Hindu Dharma for millennia, the Hindu outfit sought to draw attention to the growing intolerance toward Hindus in the state and appealed to the state government to take appropriate action before it is too late. VHP warned that if “they remain silent spectators, the Hindu Society will have to stand up and defend its pride.”
VHP urges states like Tamil Nadu to adopt anti-conversion and love jihad laws
Dr Surendra Jain opined that illegal religious conversion is the biggest crime and violence against humanity. He said that the “Mullah, Moulvi, and Missionaries” are engaging in this criminal activity assuming it to be their religious right and have been using all types of unconstitutional and unethical means to do so.
According to Jain, numerous different sections of society have called for an end to this illicit criminal activity ever since the country’s independence. He encouraged the Tamil Nadu government to follow the lead of the state governments that have already passed legislation to end unlawful conversions in their states.
The VHP joint secretary invoked the case of the 17-year-old M Lavanya to point out how due to the insensitivity and apathy of the state government, instances of illegal conversion and attempts to convert Hindus to Christianity in Missionary run schools are still occurring unabashedly in states like Tamil Nadu. Lavanya, a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, killed herself in January this year after she was allegedly tortured by her school authorities for refusing to convert to Christianity.
He also brought up other suicides that occurred for the same reason in Ramanathapuram and Melur in Madurai and expressed concern about the rise in incidents of Islamic fundamentalists targeting Hindu girls as part of their Love Jihad before using them as sexual objects.
Dr Surendra Jain demanded that the Tamil Nadu government should stop such activities by punishing these institutions and individuals stringently, so that these kinds of abuses on the Hindu Society may be stopped. VHP Central Governing Council urged the state government to enact a stringent Anti–Conversion law to curb illegal conversions and growing cases of Love Jihad.
VHP raises its voice against rising violence of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism
The Hindu outfit, in the press conference held in Chennai, also expressed concern about the recent escalation of violence that the entire nation has experienced as a result of Islamic fanaticism. “Using CAA, Corona, Hijab and Nupur controversy, they are trying to inflame the country in senseless violence. Terrorism has also been nurtured by these fundamentalists. Unfortunately, Tamilnadu has become a hub and recruiting center for the Jihadi Terrorists,” read the press release.
VHP added that the NIA has recently made several arrests of Islamic terrorists from Tamil Nadu, which has been an unprecedented surge in its infrastructure, sleeper cells, and financial support systems. The state security agencies appear to be negligent in spotting these forces in society and protecting its citizens, the Hindu outfit said.
Slamming the Tamil Nadu government’s apathy towards Hindus, Jain added that the inaction of the state police will embolden the Islamic fundamentalist groups in the state to unleash violence against innocent people.
“So far, in Tamilnadu, more than hundred Hindu Society/Political Leaders have been killed by these Islamic terrorists since 1985. Vishwa Hindu Parishad urges the govt. to act upon the Islamic Fundamentalists firmly, swiftly and stop further bloodshed in the name of Islamic religious fundamentalism,” read the press note.
VHP calls for freeing Hindu Temples from Govt control and stopping selective demolition
The Tamil Nadu government has often been rebuked for its bias against the Hindu religion. The Madras HC has, on numerous occasions, lashed out at the Tamil Nadu govt, ordering it to initiate proceedings to recover various encroached temple lands. The Hindu outfit, too, slammed the colonial mindset of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and sought that Hindu temples be freed from the Govt control.
“We appreciate that some of the Govts have already declared to let the Hindu Religious places be run by the Hindu Society. VHP demands that the remaining State Govts including Tamilnadu should also free Hindu Temples. We appeal to the Hindu society to realize their strength and be ready to run effectively and transparently those great temples through the committee including pujaris and devotees from all castes and gender,” said the Hindu organisation.
The press release read that with tremendous bias and under the name of encroachment and unlawful buildings, the Tamilnadu government has been demolishing Hindu temples in the state. It said that in the last 13 months, over 20 temples had been destroyed, however, such cruelty has never been meted out to any mosque or church.
Condemning the anti-Hindu bias of the TN government, the VHP demanded that “if removal of temple is required as per law, it should be relocated to other place, in prior consultation with the temple committee and local Hindu organizations, as it is done with relocating people from encroachments. So that those Deities (Living Entities as per Supreme Court verdict) are treated with utmost sanctity and not cause agony to the Hindu society.”
Strict action against Hate Speech on Hindu belief and its deities
The Hindu outfit in strong words condemned the state’s inaction on the perpetrators of the hate speech against the Hindu faith and its deities, which it said “anguishes the Hindu society”.
VHP elucidated how strict measures are being taken across the nation against those who insult non-Hindu religions and their leaders, however, there is no action against those who do the same in Tamil Nadu as in the case of the Dravidian YouTuber who recently used the most obscene language to disparage Hindu God Shiva.
Having said the above, VHP made a plea to all state governments to show a little more consideration for the sentiments of the Hindu community. It warned the state government’s that if they choose to watch in silence, the Hindu Society will be compelled to step up and preserve its honour.
