-Vivekanand Nartam
The Mahant of Tryambekeshwar Dakshinmukhi Hanuman Temple Kalpvriksha Giri Maharaj (70), his fellow Mahant Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) and their driver Nelesh Telgade (30) were killed in heinous lynching on April 16, 2020. This brutality was carried out in Gadchinchale village in Palghar district of Maharashtra. Both saints were also associated with Shri Panch Dashnam Akhada, Varanasi. The abominable creatures involved in this murder were arrested on April 17, 2020. Video footage of this incident went viral on social media on April, 19, 2020 and after that we came to know about the brutality. The gruesomeness perpetrated will shake our collective conscience. But what’s surprising is the so called liberal-leftist and JNU gangs who claim to the conscience keepers and champions of human rights are nowhere to be seen. We would have seen havoc on the streets had this happened with their darling minorities or someone among themselves. But this brutal murder of Hindu saints would never appeal to their hypocritical sensitivity.
While we condemn this heinous crime, it is equally important for us to draw parallels between various such incidents that have repeatedly taken place in our country. Some of these areas of the Palghar district are primarily inhabited by the people belonging to the Konkna, Warli and Thakar tribal communities. In these far flung hilly areas of the Palghar district, the Christian Missionaries and the violent leftists have created their spheres of influence. The left oriented organization called ‘Kashtakari’ and missionary churches are functioning in this area for a long time now. We know that in the missionary dominated tribal areas, certain converted individuals have been pressing for separate religious code for tribal people in the census. In the very recent past the Tribals in Jharkhand were incited by very such tendencies to proclaim that they do not recognize the law of the land under violent Pathalgadi movement. These forest dwelling people are being repeatedly instigated by feeding to them that their identity is different than that of Hindus.
The ‘divide and rule’ administrative policy of the British rulers sowed the seeds of differentness among the Janjatis in India by introducing the separate religious code called Sarana. The separate code for them remained in effect from 1871-1951. After independence it was removed from the census conducted in 1951. But the left wing individuals and organizations and missionary conspirators have been working overtime to create the sense of alienation among tribal people. Their divisive activities are leaving no stone unturned to widen the gulf between the urban and forest dwelling communities. They deliberately assign the terms like aboriginals or indigenous people to the Janjatis to make them feel different. As a result of this, some individuals in tribal communities started to see Hinduism in hostile manner. Such hostility towards Hindus has grown in some janjati areas and particularly in converted or leftist oriented individuals of the Palghar district for some years now. The Niyogi Committee Report on Christian Missionary Activities (1956) had anticipated such outcomes much earlier and therefore it had recommended the legal prohibition on the conversion. But due to some unfortunate reasons it was not implemented.
Many antinational and antisocial activities aiming to divide the country and the society into pieces are rampantly going. But was there really a drift or disconnect, let alone hatred, between the urban and forest dwelling communities in the Indian civilization? The writings of India’s great epics- Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata are ripe with anecdotes of cooperation and harmonious coexistence of various communities. Acharya Vinoba Bhave would put that the Veda is tribal text. Hindus and Tribal communities both worship nature and same Gods and Goddesses. The tribes such as the Bhillas, the Madias, the Gonds, the Pardhans etc. do worship Mahadev-God Shiva. The European emigrants to the North and South Americas, Australia, New Zealand etc. did the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous inhabitants. We the Indians do not share any such bloody history. The conspiracy behind the construction of certain theories such as ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ stands exposed. Then why is this rancor? Who is instigating the hearted? It’s high time that we need to deliberate on this.
We cannot remain oblivious to the fact that the Hindu saints, social activists or organizations were persecuted and even killed by missionary-left gangs whenever they opposed the forced conversion or ideological exploitation of tribal people. The very same treacherous alliance assassinated Swami Lakshmananand Saraswati on August 23, 2008 on the auspicious of day of Janmashtami. The great soul had to die for his work for the upliftment of isolated tribal population and opposition to aggressive proselytizing missionary activities in the Kandhamal district of Odisha. Similarly, we also know Swami Aseemanand was falsely implicated in various terrorist acts performed by the enemies of the nation. Some sycophantic ministers and bureaucrats, under the instructions from their political masters, persecuted Swami Aseemanand to the hilt. His fault was that he worked for the socio-religious awakening of the tribals in the Dangs district of Gujarat. His work among them invoked their consciousness about their identity and they started coming back to their original fold. The attack on Suryacharya Krishdevanand Giri Maharaj in the district of Satara in Maharashtra, while he was travelling from Sangli to Mumbai, too reflects the same criminal mindset. The attackers wanted to obstruct his tour to Ayodhya.
A little history of some incidents in the Palghar district of Maharashtra would suggest that this conspiracy is carrying a ghastly form. It is necessary to mention two events prominently here. In 1965, the ‘Hindu Seva Sangha’ was established in Theronda village of the Palghar district under the leadership of late Damu Anna Tokekar, then RSS Pracharak of Thane, Mumbai and Raigad region. The organization was started with purpose of removing social, educational and economic backwardness in the tribal community of the district. Owing to social and sensitive nature of Damu Anna, people of the tribal society started connecting with him. Seeing the ground slipping out their influence, the left wing and missionary goons decided to kill him. They decided to execute their plan of eradicating Damu Anna on the fateful night in 1980 but luckily he was staying at some other place.
They attacked Wamanrao Sahastrabudhhe and his wife who worked for the organization and seriously injured both. The second incident of frustration of these unscrupulous and violent mobs is when they attacked the ‘The Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra’ at Talasari with the intention of killing late Madhavrao Kane. In 1967, on the advice of Damu Anna, Madhavrao Kane started the Kendra at Talasari, a Tahsil place in today’s Palghar district on the immediate borders of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Through this organization programmes on education, rural development, environmental protection, tree planting etc. are carried out. Here again sensing the growing popularity of the organization the left-missionary gang of 700-800 in numbers attacked the Kendra to assassinate Madhavrao. They could not succeed as Madhavrao was in Kalyan in connection with some work but Shri Mahadev Joshi and his wife Mrs. Vasudha Joshi were grievously injured in the attack. The injuries they suffered were so deep that both could be saved only by divine grace.
The brutal murder of two Sadhus and their driver on April 16, 2020 reflects the same distorted mentality. Kalpvriksha Giri Maharaj and Sushil Giri Maharaj along with their driver Nilesh Telgade were going to Silvassa to attend the fellow Sadhu’s funeral. According some sources they lost their way and started going through the village of Gadchinchale that comes in the jurisdiction of Kasa Police Station. On the way, a violent mob of villagers stopped them and stated beating them. But the forest guard posted at nearby place came to their rescue and sheltered them and called the police. The Kasa Police Station lies at the distance of some 40 kms. from the site where the incident took place. It would have taken at least half an hour’s time for the police to reach there. Why the mob did not kill them in the meanwhile?
The viral videos clearly show the old Mahatma holding hands of the police with the faith that they will protect him? Why did he hurl him to the mob? Was there a well planned conspiracy to kill the Sadhus? Did someone provoke the mob to kill them seeing their saffron clothes? Why did the police not make any attempt to dispel the crowd by firing in the air or by firing at the legs of violent individuals in the mob to save these innocent souls? How come so many individuals assemble together when the lockdown is in force? What is worse is that these revered Sadhus were not shown any respect even after their death. Their dead bodies were dumped in a dirty dusty tempo for postmortem. Seeing this heart wrenching incident, many such questions and doubts arise. Therefore, before the eruption of anger of the Hindu community, this incident should be investigated by high level inquiry committee. The earliest and toughest action should be taken against the abominable creatures that are a blot on humanity.