bhavani wrote: It is not about what his relatives do, and no body is blaming Venkaiah naidu for that. The biggest point one has to understand that the biggest or most powerful weapon is Money and EJ's have plenty of it right now. A lot of political leaders from AP (BJP YSRC, or TDP) or their relatives/backers have links with EJ's with money. They have no will to work against conversions.
None of these leaders have no genuine Indic Viewpoints and most don't feel that Christianity is threatening Hinduism in AP. The old Kamma political activity in Vijaywada/Krishna area started out under the aegis of Communist ideologies.
One point most of the posters seems to not recognize is that Brahmins are not a power center in Andhra anymore. They simply don't have the money or muscle power. They are too spread out and there is a quite bit of in fighting between the various factions/variants of brahmins. EVen Kammas, Reddys now realize that and that is the reason that rampant anti-brahminism is not there anymore in Andhra. Most feel that Brahmins are too weak or powerless.
A lot of Kamma folks back in the day, ate Beef, not because they like it, but as a kind of Snub towards Brahmins. But now most Kamma, reddys, Velama, Rajulu, wont eat Beef.
But this unbridled run towards money and power, with no genuine philosophical, Dharmic thought process behind it, is what is going to bring down Hinduism in Andhra, If these leaders dont realize this soon enough Andhra is on the way of being another Tamil Nadu.
Good post with a realistic assessment of situation, except the last point - Andhra has already degraded worse than TN. People have degraded themselves due to their myopic materialist pursuits and caste-fascism + reactions to that fascist behavior. The blind rush for money is evident in all castes - not just the dominant landed castes like Kamma or Reddy but even Brahmins or BCs. The caste obsession is prominent in dominant landed castes. There are perhaps more poojas being done in AP than any corner of India daily, but people are firmly focused on materialist aspects and have been desensitized internally to everything except their selfish interest.
A modern day peculiarity is how in this age where universalism is persistently drilled through schools and media, casteist supremacism has survived and continues to thrive in AP. A reason is that casteism is the most logical way to hang on to landed assets from one gen to next as well as provide security for landed property. Another interesting fact - they have been sending their children to US for the past 3-4 decades, and once they get married in the states and end up with US citizenship, they usually send their kids back to their grandparents place to be brought up. This is done in order to avoid developing any "dangerous" universalist ideas like "brotherhood of all humans" or "brotherhood of all hindus". The grandparents brainwash these kids from an early age about the supremacism of their caste and need to support their own kind irrespective of right/wrong.
While it is true that Christian faith is growing due to financial allurement, this caste-fascism is also ensuring its steady growth by offering a way out for some BC communities. Its another story that they sell a totally different kool aid to the landed gentry - saying you dont have to sacrifice caste just by converting.
A detailed example - Sidhhartha Engg college in Vijayawada is perhaps one of the most casteist colleges in AP.. during a final year engg examination of my cousin's unhappy undergrad stint there, a student apparently collapsed due to a sudden epileptic bout and fell down writhing in pain, semi conscious .. seems majority of the class didnt even flinch and continued writing their papers because he was "not from their caste".. and these are 19-20 yr olds. Then there is institutionalized casteism - school cafeteria should be vacated by everyone if Chowdaries (Kammas) enter, School sports ground should be vacated if Chowdaries enter, nobody is allowed to talk to a Chowdary girl, libraries contain books of kamma supremacism, farewell and freshers parties organized on a caste basis, even faculty are in on it - best recommendations inevitably go to Kamma students without bothering about academic performance... the littany is unending. Just type the words "kamma caste" on google chacha and see how many websites pop up.
Frankly, this stinking discrimination was a main reason why Brahmins and everyone else voted so long for Congress.. YSR and most Reddy politicians were perceived as selfish and look after their own like Christians, but not as bad as Kammas who just dont let anyone else grow due to an "islamic" mindset - particularly their open aggression and supremacist nature. Even those Brahmins who hate YSR's encouragement of Christianity, will say they would've voted for him in a heartbeat if he were around given the lack of alternatives. Note - nobody says the same about his semi-mad, violent son.
The only way BJP can grow is not by sucking up to Reddys and Kaapus and bringing back the same moneybag industrialists who were part of C-system into power through another route, but by bringing in a fresh leader belonging to an unrepresented community to power - mostly a strong leader (corruption is not an issue as much as being "caste neutral" is) with ideological conviction. In brief a Hindu, non-Reddy of the YSR mold would be able to unite everyone and control EJs. Perhaps someone like Chaganti Koteswara Rao - the great spiritualist who is playing a major role in saving Hindu dharma through his speeches and who is universally respected by even your avg christian SC Rickshaw Pullers and muslim BC auto drivers, inspite of preaching Sangh ideology and Vedic scriptural knowledge. Perhaps someone more politically savvy and belonging to a more acceptable "backward" community than Guruvugaru.
Relying on Venkiah to revive BJP in AP is so wrong at many levels. But of course, the great omniscient Modi/Shah already know everything and now that someone here claims to know what they think (perhaps there is a portal into Modi/Shah's heads ala the one in "Being John Malkovich") and deigned to confirm that "they will not abandon us poor Andhras", am sure most Andhras feel immensely placated.