BRAHMINS IN TAMILNADU AND THE CULTURAL ATTACK

The Xtians and their pastors who came to India with the first Europeans, the Protugese and later with the English, started their missionary work with lots of zeal.  It is reported that some of the earliest convert Christians in Kerala were from Brahmin families and they sported the tuft on their head, wore the sacred thread but worshiped at the church. The conversion which started with the active support of the rulers of the different regions from Portugese in the western shore to French in the eastern shore to English in major part of the country was continuing ever more actively especially in the coastal areas and tribal areas in the forest lands of central and north east India.  The entire north east India has almost completely got converted to Xtianity with the missionaries' aggressive designs and work.  Some of the traditional tribal practices have become totally extinct in these areas.  The forest lands of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh and similar states where there are tribal population have been occupied by Xtian missionaries by putting up churches and converting the tribal people to Xtianity.  This has done an irreversible damage to the tribal way of life and their practices both social and religious.  The massacre of Goan Hindus by the Portugese army and missionaries is almost at par with the Jewish holocaust that there is no record that one knows about. At the time of leaving India on granting independence to the country, the British bestowed the land held by the government to the church. Today, the church is the owner of largest tracts of land across India next only to the army.  

Despite all the support from the rulers and ruling the country for close to 250 years the missionaries still feel that they could not convert the country to a Xtian majority one despite their success in a few pockets. The main reason they found as an impediment to their efforts is the Brahmins in the country and their steadfast hold onto their traditional studies of Veda, practices and life style. Slowly the missionaries started working against the Brahmins and their way of life.  The anti Brahmin political movement in the state of Tamilnadu came in handy for them as they were able to get covert support from the ruling clique in the state in their various attempts to convert the people.  The practices like building the churches from their earlier Gothic-Sarsonic style to Chola-Rashtrakoota style of temples, putting up flag staff, holding a ten day festival, culmination with a car festival, plagiarizing the classical songs written in various Indian languages and made popular by the classical singers etc. to copy the various actions of the Hindus especially Brahmins in the way a worship is done in a Hindu temple, are all being done to hoodwink the gullible and the educated.  They did not stop with that and continued their onslaught on the Hindus by hoodwinking the celebrities to convert to Xtianity and talk and write against the practices of Hindus.

Another attempt by the missionaries is the inter religious marriage route.  There is a concerted effort of the missionaries from the Xtian religion and the mullas of Islamic religion to enthuse the young boys from their religion to befriend the Hindu girls while in college or meeting in social places.  This friendship is slowly grown to a situation, when either it becomes difficult for the girl to get out of the grip or absolutely essential to go ahead with marriage.  This type of forced marriage into inter-religious alliances have become a norm in many families thanks to the wards going abroad for studies and settling down there for jobs and do not want to return to the country.  This poison is slowly getting into the upper echelons of the society by attacking the Brahmin families first.  From celebrity parents to upper middle class parents of the girls who go abroad for education and employment face this dilemma of not able to get their wards listen to them in terms of matrimony and approve the choices of their wards as life partner.  As a consequence most of them unwillingly accept the choices of their wards and go ahead.  

In a few cases, a few persons from the state, feel that it is a concerted effort of the missionaries in alluring the Brahmin girls and entrapping into a wedlock with Xtian boys.  They start objecting to such practices involving some of the popular celebrities.  A majority others feel that it is an individual's freedom of choice and they can do what they want with their life.  Some of the comments to a few posts on an issue involving a celebrity classical singer in the social media is outright obnoxious and vulgar.  But the larger question remains.  Let us look at a similar situation which obtained in pre-war Germany which is famously portrayed in the following words of the pastor Martin NiemÖller (1892-1984) who was a German, was opposed to the Nazis and was reportedly an outspoken enemy of Adolf Hitler.  He spent last seven years of Nazi rule of Germany in concentration camps.  He is best remembered for the postwar words he wrote about the Nazis and the common Germans. The prose is as follows: 

1. First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

2. Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

3. Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

4. Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

5. Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

The Brahmins of Tamilnadu are in a similar situation to that of Martin NiemÖller  in pre-war Germany.