A significant Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement with an impact on employment at state-managed Hindu religious organizations and temples, has not received adequate publicity by the mainstream “secular” media firms.
Less than a month ago, on 8 November 2023, the Andhra Pradesh High Court delivered a clear, concise, significant judgement in the case of a Temple Board Vs a converted Christian ex-employee of the Hindu temple in question. The case involves the ex-employee’s conversion to Christianity, while working at a Hindu temple, an outright violation of the terms and conditions of his employment agreement with the temple. The petitioner, an ex employee of the state-managed temple, had filed a case of wrongful termination of employment.
The court dismissed the petitioner’s plea of wrongful termination of employment and upheld the right of the temple authorities to terminate the petitioner’s employment at the temple, based on sufficient evidence of his conversion to Christianity. The court reiterated the temple’s rights to terminate the services of the petitioner in accordance with Article 16(5) of the Constitution of India and the Statutory Powers conferred by Rule 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Hindu Religious institutions and Endowments Act, specifically dealing with conditions of employment for all office holders and employees.
Article 16(5) of the Indian Constitution, makes a provision for a law to mandate, that the incumbent of an office, related to a religious or denominational institution or a member of its governing body, should belong to that particular religion or denomination. Accordingly, the Andhra Pradesh government back in 2000, under the then TDP government, had added an additional clause to the existing Andhra Pradesh HR&CE Act – the additional “Rule 3” of the Act that enables Hindu temples, charitable and endowment institutions, to employ exclusively those who professed/practiced Hinduism.
This case sounds familiar to several Hindu individuals and organizations that have long been complaining of lies and deceit on state-controlled temple boards and among all ranks of temple employees, ever since an exponential rise in covert Christian-conversions, more than two decades ago. The Andhra High Court’s judgement brings solace and hope to many Hindu complainants, whose similar grievances in the past against such converted fellow employees (both colleagues and contractors) had fallen on deaf ears.
The “secular” press had been unwilling to write at length on such issues, in the past. However, they had covered it extensively when back in 2018 the Hyderabad Court ordered that Muslim and Christian staff at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) should not be terminated.
With little-to-none press coverage on this controversial subject, most ordinary Hindu citizens, pilgrims and donors to temples and religious organizations were unaware of a persistent problem in Hindu establishments run by state-controlled HR&CE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) departments.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement is simple, concise and clear – the employee in question, a convert to Christianity had indeed violated the terms of employment at the temple, including the signing of his employment contract, which clearly mentioned that the temple, a religious Hindu organization would hire and continue to employ, only people professing the Hindu faith.
This case is a stark reminder of classic “crypto” Christianity or covert conversion to Christianity – practicing the newly acquired faith, yet deceiving the state authorities by continuing to utilize a Hindu name and caste certificate, to take advantage of government benefits meant for lower caste Hindus. Typically, crypto Christians practice their new religion with great vigor, attend church services regularly, make donations to Christian organizations and actively participate in Christian endeavors like preaching (formally or informally) in an effort to assist in further conversion activities.
In this particular case, the accused was married to a Christian woman in a church ceremony, presided over by a Christian pastor and the marriage certificate indicated his religion as Christianity, along with his signature on it, implying his consent to all the printed information on the certificate. Yet, the man claimed he had not converted to Christianity, even though his religion was stated as Christianity, on the marriage certificate. He claimed he had remained a Hindu although he had married a Christian woman. He argued that he had not lied about his religion and displayed a previously issued Hindu caste certificate.
The court stated that the petitioner cannot claim non-conversion to Christianity, since his marriage certificate was clearly a Christian one, which he himself had signed. The court pointed out that there was a different legal procedure, form and certificate for marriage, in the true case of an inter-religious wedding. It asked the petitioner who appeared educated enough, why he had a Christian ceremony and a Christian marriage certificate issued on his name, instead of an inter-religious one? The judge was referring to the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA) and marriage certificate for inter-religious weddings, issued under Section 13 of the SMA.
Justice Harinath did not accept the petitioner’s claims of innocence nor his attempt to claim that he was still a Hindu, based on his birth and caste certificates. It can be safely assumed that the court understood the statistical and administrative problem of converted “crypto” Christians, not following due government-mandated procedure, by reporting their conversion to a new religion, instead, further continuing to fraudulently utilize their previously obtained Hindu caste certificates, in order to avail government benefits.
The judgement in this case, brings both relief and hope to many Hindu individuals and organizations, who have been silently fighting a biased state-controlled system under the HR&CE Act, where non-Hindus, especially Christian converts, were observed openly deriding Hinduism and Indian culture, while making their daily wages and a handsome living, off the faith and devotion of millions of Hindu devotees. Shockingly, such instances have been observed even with the larger, internationally known temples and organizations, like the famous Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirupati, managed by the board of TTD (Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam).
According to many devotees in the Telugu states, the situation got worse, spun out of control and experienced the worst circumstances, when Y S Rajasekhar Reddy (current Andhra Pradesh CM, Y S Jagan Reddy’s father) had become the chief minister of the larger, undivided Andhra state in 2004. He was Chief Minister from 2004 to 2009. He came from a family of converted Christians and a large part of his political and financial success was attributed to a vast network of financial and social support from church organizations.
Y S Rajasekhar Reddy was a Congress party politician, widely reputed to have been a big fan of Sonia Gandhi, who is also Christian. He is said to have favored many Christian organizations, which in turn, allegedly indulged in higher levels of conversions in the state during his Chief Ministership. Reddy was a man, who openly discussed and announced government-subsidized religious pilgrimages for Christians of the state, to Jerusalem in Israel. This was the Christian equivalent of the heavily subsidized pilgrimage packages, offered to Muslims in India by the Congress and other “secular” parties in various states. India’s “secular” parties go unquestioned by its majoritarian Hindu electorate, as they continue to blatantly violate the principles of secularism, enshrined in the Indian Constitution, specifically prohibiting positive or negative discrimination on the basis of religion.
Y S Rajashekar Reddy’s son, Jagan Mohan Reddy was elected to power, ten years after his father’s untimely helicopter accident and death in 2009. It is interesting to note that the entire Reddy family of converted Christians, continues to use Indian-Hindu names with no overt indication of their religion. Jagan Reddy is said have utilized a similar political strategy as his late father, to oust the previous TDP government in Andhra – a potent combination of Christian mobilization, Christian funds and a network of Christian “volunteers” while keeping the Hindu vote divided by playing the caste card.
Soon after coming to power in 2019, Jagan Reddy had announced monthly stipends for Christian pastors and increased financial assistance for both Muslims and Christians, going on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia (Mecca for Muslims) and Israel-Palestine (Jerusalem for Christians). Both measures were criticized at the time, in Andhra Pradesh as well as on a national level, as yet another example of unnecessary tax-payer /state funds, towards extreme minority-appeasement schemes, which flagrantly flout constitutional validity. In the first three years of the Jagan Reddy government, there were several complaints of open Christian aggression, increased conversion activities in Andhra, reminiscent of the years, when his late father was in power. There have also been several reports of temple vandalism, damage to physical structures and the idols within the temples, as well as mismanagement of temple funds. Hindu organizations are hoping for a change of government in the upcoming 2024 state elections, with leaders reminding Hindus, not to fall for political maneuvers that seek to keep the minorities united, while simultaneously, trying to keep the Hindu vote divided and scattered, along caste lines.
Shivani is a freelance writer based out of Vijayawada.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally
