Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Kamakoti Math though being an exalted Dharmacharya, directly engaged in social service activities by personally reaching out to the marginalised sections of Hindu society and pioneering various social service programs for their upliftment.
Engaged Dalits in Temple Activities, Spearheaded Anti-Conversion Movement
The Kanchi Swamiji established Mandirs in Dalit Hindu colonies and engaged them in Mandir activities. He even got Dalits appointed as Trustees of the ancient Kapaleeswarar Kovil at Mylapore, Chennai.
The holy Swamiji also played a key role in the Ramjanmabhoomi movement in 1992 which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the blighted Babri Mosque at the holy site. As discussed in the earlier article by the author on the Swamiji, he also spearheaded the anti-conversion movement in Tamil Nadu and brought back to the Hindu fold almost all Hindus who had en masse converted to Islam in Meenakshipuram in 1981.
Justice Venugopal Report Recommending Anti-Conversion Law For Tamil Nadu
Right on the heels of the Meenakshipuram conversions to Islam by monetary allurement funded by Gulf countries, Tamil Nadu was again rocked by the Mandaikadu Hindu-Christian riots in Kanyakumari district in 1982 over religious conversions. This prompted the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran to appoint a judicial inquiry commission under Justice Venugopal.
Although Justice Venugopal was reportedly a Dravidian movement sympathiser, but he was shocked by the overwhelming hate literature and propaganda by the Christian missionaries in Kanyakumari. He found in his investigations that the rabid evangelists were even trying to change the name of the district from Kanyakumari to ‘Kanni Mary’ (Virgin Mary). This compelled Justice Venugopal in 1986 to recommend legislation of a law in Tamil Nadu banning conversions by force, fraud, coercion or allurement similar to the one existing in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The then Tamil Nadu CM, MG Ramachandran agreed with the said recommendations but did not put it into action due to vote-bank politics.
Jayendra Saraswati Instrumental in Legislation of Anti-Conversion Law in TN
A Decade and a half later in the second week of September 2002, Dalits in the village of Kootharanbakkam, Kanchipuram district converted to Islam motivated by forces inimical to Sanatan Dharma by fraudulently taking advantage of internal fissures within Hindu community and allurement. This incident was followed by another conversion of Dalits to Islam in a village near Madurai facilitated by Jihadis.
This prompted the Kanchi Swamiji to impress upon the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalitha for an urgent need to pass a law banning forcible conversions. Thus the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act was promulgated as an Ordinance on 5th October 2002 criminalizing conversion by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.
Jayendra Saraswati Personally Led Pro Anti-Conversion Bill Rally At Marina Beach
On 24th October 2002, Christian missionaries and Islamic organisations along with the DMK, left parties and other ‘minority’ appeasing political parties ganged up to demonstrate against the anti-conversion law under the leadership of M Karunanidhi. The Hindu organisations then organised a counter rally at Marina beach on October 31st, the day the anti-conversion bill was passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly under the leadership of J Jayalaitha. The Kanchi Shankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswati himself headed the rally and gave a speech questioning the hue and cry about the passage of the anti-conversion Bill.
The Kanchi Swamiji was not deterred by being attacked from all fronts for his steadfast support for the anti-conversion law by the left dominated media, anti-Hindu political parties and the global conversion mafia.
Jayendra Saraswati Targeted By Anti-Hindu Forces
The Kanchi Swamiji was also the target of the anti-Hindu leftist and global Islamist ire for trying to mediate for a quick solution in the vexed Ramjanmabhoomi case and trying to facilitate an early construction of a grand Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Soon enough, to fix the great Dharmacharya, a baseless murder case was fabricated and foisted on him in 2004.
Jayalalitha Repealed Anti-Conversion Law & Foisted Fake Murder Case To Appease Evangelists & Jihadis
Jayalalithaa faced an electoral rout in 2004 Lok Sabha polls due to the ganging up of all anti-Hindu forces against her due to the enactment of the anti-conversion law. She therefore went on an overdrive to please the evangelists and Islamists by announcing on 21 May 2005, the repeal of the anti-conversion law. She then turned vindictively her ire against the holy Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati and collaborated with Sonia Gandhi’s Christian Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YSR Reddy by getting him arrested at the dawn of Diwali Day on 11th November, 2005 for the fake murder case against the Swamiji.
In the following concluding part on the holy Swamiji, the author would trace the epic lone battle fought by him to clear his name in this earthly world paying the price for uncompromisingly upholding the Dharma Dandam also exposing the lack of strong support from the so-called Hindu organisations and the larger Hindu society for whose cause he sacrificed his life.
Image sourced from internet.
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Nithyanandam , thank you for your research and article. I am looking for part 1 of this same post, request if you can share the link please .