kiranA wrote:vijayk wrote:KiranA - I can understand the AP state division issue and how BJP let it happen.
1. SONIA system made sure they bribed/blackmailed top leadership of BJP. BJP had no policy to fight RTE or division. The end is disastrous.
2. We have to get past that. We now have a better BJP/RSS leadership.
3. Just supporting EJ conversions because Advani/SS screwed AP during division is cutting your branch out of spite.
Lets move forward. EJs in Devasthanam board is a NO NO
How can you get past it becaused They changed their leaders for their convenience. Hyderabad represents the best efforts of some of the best andhra people and the prosperity that was generated there . You lost access to it and that's not a big deal but a thatched hut with a cross in some shanty is huge deal. People have weird priorities.
Hi, briefly about myself before my two cents about Andhra split and EJ activity. I am from rural parts of Eastern Andhra (Near Vizag) grew up in Bengal and Orissa, did my Btech in Vijayawada. My stint in Vijayawada area gave me an insight into the Caste dynamics of AP. I am BC-D just to clarify, but i have been brought up in a devout Hindu Family.
I agree Hyderabad grew because of mostly Andhra people. But that is what stopped the rich Andhra folks from opposing the split. KCR and TRS had them by the b**ls. The middle class was busy working and poor people protested, but no body cared.
NO BJP, TDP or even Rich Andhra businessmen leader opposed the split in Public. since all the rich folks like CBN, Telugu film Heroes, Businessmen all had their investments in Hyderabad they could not risk opening their mouths in Public. Nobody dared open their mouths.
BJP has no stake in Andhra, It had no reason to oppose the split. Sonia did not have to bribe anybody, BJP was straight up for the split. It weakened the hold of local parties. Nobody has lost access to Hyderabad, Everybody in India can still work in Hyd and majority of the money, real estate etc in Hyd still belongs to Andhra people.
But now i think people of AP have come to terms with the split.
Coming to EJ activity in Andhra, i have posted multiple times about it and i have been studying it in depth for some time from 2004.
The idea that there are is conversion activity in Cities where there are good jobs like Vizag, Hyderabad etc - is completely false. Vizag, VIjaywada, Rajahmundry, Guntur, kakinada, and Tirupathi are the epicenters of this problem
It is not a small cross in a shanty any more. It is a Huge enterprise consisting of Hundreds of crores. murders have been committed over it in Guntur diocese. There are number of Celebrities etc who are commited to conversion activity. A number of telugu actors like Raja, Jayasudha, Sudhakar are hardcore evangelists. Jayasudha was a TDP Mla, works a lot on spreading the christian message.
I have done extensive traveling, in Godavari districts, Krishna districts, Vizianagaram, VSKP, areas to document churches and conversion activity. example if you travel from Samarlakota to Kakinada to Bikkavolu, one will find more Churches than temples. Go Along the beautiful Godavari from Rajahmundry to kadiyapulanka, Churches out number temples 5:1 easy.
In Vizag, Vizianagaram one cannot be part of some auto centers, if he/she is not a Christian. In Construction workers, rickshaw pullers, Auto workers, yadava communities in AP, the conversion activity had huge effect. My Guess is % of christians in some areas of Andhra is as High as 30%. Their overall percentage is 10-12% easy. Just walk on any road on any major Ap city, you will see endless number of "Subhavartha and Swasthatha" Sabha posters. Every week there is some evangelical meeting in town.
The overall percentage of christians in Telangana is less around 6-8%. The rural hindu gods and festivals have held on real strong in Telangana.
In fact Church activity in some parts of Hyderabad has gone down after KCR came to power. KCR is not really pro Church. But Church activity has been going unabated in rural Telangana. CBN is not going to Stop any EJ activity because a lot of rich folks of his community have converted. he needs their money. There are separate churches for Higher castes and lower castes in AP. The AP political class originating from Vijaywada has a communist bent and it has lent a helping hand to the EJ activity. The middle classes in AP will hold the fort for Hinduism. Also the converts are real fluid in AP and telangana. A number of people who convert for needs and temporary effects change back.
For ex: My Driver in Vizag is a Devout Hindu, his mom had some issues with eyes, so somebody in the neighborhood told her to believe in Jesus and it would solve the issue and she did. Initially her eye surgery went well and she was about to change fully. But her eyes had some other issues., some people commented that Hindu gods might be angry, so she stopped believing in Jesus. But you cannot say that she believes Christians are bad or EJ's are bad. The whole situation is quite fluid. Majority of these converts are not 2nd or 3rd generation Christians like in Kerala. i know families where the females have converted, but her sons and Husband are still Hindus
Even the Bloody mormon church has a church in Vizag. I have done so much research on this issue that i speak their lingo properly and know in-outs of how they operate.
I Think the conversion activity has flattened out a but in the last few years, they are not able to get any new Sheep. There are also other reasons like various churches infighting to pull people from one church to another, money flow slowing down a bit etc. Now the churches have enough people and money that they are concentrating on generating more money and poaching people from other churches. Also a lot of old people who were converted were not able to convert the young ones. So as the old ones are dying the numbers are dwindling.
The churches have concentred on building churches, but with growing prices of real estate, it has become difficult and also a number of people who built churches by occupying lands in outskirts of cities have later converted them into commercial properties, by greasing the proper people in VUDA etc.
