Christianisation of Chennai Doordarshan’s Podhigai Channel

Christianisation – A small backdrop 

The Church functions with the sole agenda of Christianisation of the entire world. Christian Institutions of all denominations have the expertise to Christianise non-Christian nations, investing their political clout and money power for ‘harvesting’. The invasion of American, African and Australian countries, annihilating the natives, destroying their culture, planting the Cross, constructing the Church and ultimately establishing the Christian Regime are discernible chapters of world history. If this kind of invasion is one method of Christianising a nation, the other method is by gaining entry in the garb of trade and service, permeating all sectors of governance with political motives and finally achieving the main objective of Christianisation.

 The Christian onslaught on India, which started with the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch and French, attained greater heights during British rule. It would not be an exaggeration to say it has reached its zenith under the alien headed UPA government. Apart from conquering mountain ranges (tribal villages) and coastal regions (fishermen hamlets), the Church has penetrated the interior regions in the name of educational and health services and grabbed vast stretches of land, to the extent that the Church is the second largest land owner in India, next only to the government.

After attaining freedom through years of struggle and sacrifice, our modern founding fathers failed to exile Christian Missionaries and Institutions. They committed the big blunder of giving huge concessions to Christians and Muslims in the name of ‘minority’ rights while framing the Constitution. Another stupidity was the continuation of the Macaulay system of education. These three blunders have resulted in the falling of many sectors to the control of Christians. Even the governance at present!

Christianised Media

The media has long since been Christianized in India. As courses like Journalism, Media Management, Electronics & Visual Communication and Mass Communication are available mostly in Christian institutions even Hindu students are intoxicated with an over-dosage of ‘secularism’ during their studies. They come out of college as ‘secularists’ and function to the detriment of Hindu interests.

Also, media houses in India are either Christian Institutions or Christian funded Institutions or Christian managed institutions or Institutions employing more Christians (minorities), leftists and the so-called secularists. No wonder these institutions work with a mission of de-Hinduise the nation!

Present status of media in India

At present we come across news, reports, columns, debates and programs ridiculing the Hindu faith, insulting Hindu religious traditions, demeaning Hindu cultural heritage and belittling Hindu customs and rituals, in print and electronic, mainstream as well as unconventional media. All this is focused on Hindu youth with an aim to confuse them and create disbelief and hatred in their minds about their own religion and culture.

The same condition seems to prevail in public broadcasters Akashvani and Doordarshan. Here also we can discern considerable influence of minorities and Marxists, as the secular government of the day panders to both.

Actually, the ruling Dravidian racists of Tamil Nadu first started to de-Hinduise the public broadcasters. They influenced the central government not to use the words ‘Akashvani’ and ‘Doordarshan’ and changed them to ‘Akila Inthiya Vaanoli’ (All India Radio) and ‘Chennai Tholaikkaatchi Nilaiyam’ (Chennai Television Centre) in the name of opposing the imposition of Hindi/Sanskrit. Now, Chennai Television Centre is called as “Podhigai” and it is being Christianised.

Christian ‘Podhigai’

 Myriad evangelical programs are shown on Podhigai in different names. Evangelisation is going on blatantly in the name of ‘Happy Living’, ‘Success in Life’, ‘Progress in Life’ and ‘Personality Development’. Going by the names, readers could mistake them for Human Resources Development or Educational programs or personality enhancement programs. The conductors of these programs are not Professors or Intellectuals, but Pastors, Padires and Evangelists indulging in tele-harvesting.

Christian Missionary Organisations have captured most of the time slots of sponsorship programs. Our sources indicate that some of the Doordarshan staff help them take ‘prime time’ slots. It is understood that they convince the Director of the Kendra that the revenue will increase if the slots are offered to evangelical organizations. At a time when private channels charge huge amounts for sponsorship program slots, these evangelical organizations easily get slots in Doordarshan for paltry sums from Rs.2500/- to Rs.5000/, which helps them to harvest and reap more benefits at lesser investment.

Podhigai’s Christian preaching

Let us have a look at the number of evangelical programs going on in Podhigai:

5.30 am – Victory Today (Daily)

The telecast timing in Podhigai is from 5.30 am to 11 pm and the programs shown between 11 pm and 5.30 am next day are re-telecasts.  

Shocking termination of Vande Mataram

The most important and outrageous aspect in the entire issue of Christianisation of Chennai Doordarshan is the shocking termination of Vande Mataram. The mandatory playing of Vande Mataram at 5.30 am has been stopped to please the evangelists. The channel straight away starts with “Yesu Bhakti” instead of “Desh Bhakti”! It means Podhigai starts with the Blessings of Jesus and viewers must either wake up by hearing the word “Sinners” or wake up to the God who forgives sinners! The channel has indirectly made the viewers sinners.

As examinations are going on in schools at present, the channel starts with a program called “Kaanbom Karpom” (Look and Learn) at 5 am without playing Vande Mataram. Sharp at 5.30 the evangelist comes. All the Doordarshan Kendras across the country are supposed to start their telecast at 5.30 am by playing the National Song Vande Mataram and the Chennai Doordarshan is the only Kendra which has stopped playing it. Instead of Vande Mataram, it starts with Yesu Mantram. Unfortunately the people of Tamil Nadu have not realized it, for they have lost their Desh Bhakti in the vicious spell of Dravidian Maya.

Impact of Christian Podhigai

The impact of the Christianisation of Podhigai is undesirable and the consequences seem to be threatening the secular fabric of the nation and its integration. It indirectly gives the government’s stamp of approval for Christian preaching, which helps pastors and evangelists to cheat the gullible masses with that dubious stamp of approval.  

Evangelists create an impression in the minds of the gullible masses as if the government authorizes the Christian way of living through their programs. The titles of these programs bear testimony for this fact.

Doordarshan’s reach and impact in rural areas is more than that of the private channels. It has gained the trust and confidence of rural people through programs such as warnings on cyclone, epidemic, weather forecasts, propagation of Family Planning and other government policies, advertisements on Health and Education and agricultural programs. As the people believe the government takes care of their welfare through Doordarshan, they easily fall prey to Christian preaching too. Evangelical organizations clearly exploit the people’s trust and confidence on Doordarshan to have a heavy harvest.
 
Evangelists and pastors have already started touring the villages and telling the people that Christianity is the only religion authorized and supported by the government and that they stand to gain the concessions offered by the government in various sectors apart from the money and other benefits given by Christian organizations. By this kind of an orchestrated campaign, the evangelists make a killing.    

Money, mission and missionaries
 

Canadian Evangelist Dr. Ron Watts and his American wife Dorothy Watts, missionaries of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, came to India on tourist visa in the 1970s and established an evangelical empire in Hosur on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border and indulged in heavy conversion activities throughout South India. As their illegal activities got exposed over a period of time, the State Government ordered the Dharmapuri District Collector to deport them.
 
A deportation order against Dr. Ron Watts dated 05/09/2003 Letter No: 3608/A1/2003-1 was given by Smt R. Vasantha, B.A., Under Secretary to Government, Public (Foreigners) Department, Secretariat, Chennai-600 009, addressed to the Collector of Dharmapuri and received by the collector on 12 Sept, 2003. But by then, they made a heavy harvest in South India, especially later by utilizing the “Joshua Project 2000” conceived and sanctioned by the US government under George Bush.

Along with Maranatha Volunteers International, American organizations like Bible for the World, Common Global Ministries Board and United Church Board of World Ministries worked in coordination with Ron Watts. Organizations such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and World Vision helped in grabbing lands and getting political support.

India based evangelists like Paul Dinakaran and Sadhu Chellappa and many others also get millions of dollars from countries like US, UK and Germany. The funds received per annum have gone up from Rs.1865 crores to Rs. 12990 crores within a period of 12 years, from 1993-94 to 2006-07. Foreign contributions have increased by more than 100% since UPA came to power.

Tamil Nadu, which was getting on an average of Rs.700 crores, started getting Rs.2000 crores since UPA came to power. Crores of rupees are being spent in each and every district of Tamil Nadu to plant crosses, build churches and harvest souls. As these are the official figures provided by the government, one can imagine the unofficial foreign money flowing into this country.
(Ref: http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/04-07/conversions.pdf and

http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1073&Itemid=1

and http://www.mha.nic.in/fcra.htm). In such a scenario, Podhigai’s impact will be mind boggling, facilitating a heavy harvest for the evangelists.

Impact of private media

We are aware of the private media’s bias against Hindus and its attempts to de-Hinduise this nation. From a deep analysis of the media and its functioning, we can infer a fundamentally important issue.

In our country, the majority of colleges and educational institutions which run courses on Journalism, Visual Communications, Media Management and Mass Communication are Christian. Most teachers, lecturers and professors of these institutions are either Christians or Leftists. Even Hindu students studying in these institutions become ‘secularists’ over a period of time. Thousands of students who come out of these institutions join the print and electronic media houses across the country. The names of Editors, Columnists, Sub-Editors, Correspondents and important reporters show that more than 90% of them are minorities, leftists, secularists and rationalists. No wonder the output from these media houses is blatantly anti-Hindu!

If government broadcasters also join these private players, the outcome is anybody’s guess. On the one hand the private players spew Hindu hatred and on the other hand government players support preaching by minority communities, ultimately leading to de-Hinduisation and a heavy ‘harvest’.

Podhigai shamed and snubbed by evangelists

Although media houses vie with each other to denigrate Hinduism, they don’t shy away from brazenly using the Ithihasas and Puranas to produce and air serials for money and TRP rating. They shamelessly fall at the feet of Hindus by telecasting live the many festivals like Vaikunda Ekadasi, Shivratri, Krishna Jayanthi, and Temple consecrations, etc. When Podhigai wanted to telecast a Hindu festival live, it was insulted by an evangelical organization.

The channel wanted to show live telecast of the last Vaikunda Ekadasi festival event in Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple and Chennai Parthasarathy Swamy Temple simultaneously from early morning up to 6.30 am. Since the evangelical organization refused to adjust its timing for that particular day, Podhigai had to stop the live telecast abruptly at 5.30 am to facilitate airing of the evangelical program ‘Victory Today’.

Podhigai against Constitution

As per the Constitution, India is a secular country. As Akashvani and Doordarshan are public broadcasters, their bias towards a particular religion is violation of the Constitution. There is nothing wrong in telecasting religiously important festivals to showcase the culture and tradition of a community. India is known for its ancient and timeless civilisational ethos. The magnificent temples are symbols of our cultural heritage. They showcase our cultural magnificence through their architectural beauty and sculptural splendour.

Just because a 60-year-old Constitution says ‘India is secular’, it doesn’t lose its Hindu identity or Hinduness. The Constitution terms our nation as ‘secular’ only for the purpose of governance and administration and not for changing the cultural ethos. There cannot be a second opinion to the fact that India is a Hindu nation with a Hindu culture. Therefore, Doordarshan and Akashvani are duty bound to broadcast all important Hindu festivals which impart religious and cultural values to viewers and listeners.

Christianity and Islam are revealed religions, brought to India by alien people. They are not religions of this soil. Their culture and tradition are totally different and alien to us. In spite of that, it is legitimate to broadcast their important festivals as a part of secular administration, as a considerable number of Islamic and Christian converts are citizens of this land.

But festivals are one thing; preaching is different. What Podhigai does is deliberate preaching of Christianity, and besides, it allows such programs to insult the nation’s culture, tradition and Gods. In a secular country, public broadcasters indulging in preaching a particular minority religion and insulting the faith of the country’s majority community amounts to a clear violation of the Constitution.

Podhigai violates the law of the land

 

Both Akashvani and Doordarshan are supposed to follow the “Program Code”. (http://www.ddindia.gov.in/Business/Commercial+And+Sales/Code+for+Commercial+Advertisements.htm). By allowing evangelical programs, Podhigai has violated important sections of the Program Code. For example, it hurts religious sentiments and threatens National Integration by criticisin
Vigraha worship and addressing non-Christians as ‘sinners’ through the evangelical programs.

Podhigai has also violated the “Prasar Bharati (Indian Broadcasting Corporation) Act 1990” (http://www.ddindia.gov.in/Information/Acts+And+Guidelines). This Act clearly lays down norms for the functioning of public broadcasters like Akashvani and Doordarshan. Podhigai has violated some of them by allowing the evangelical programs.  

Indifference shown by the department

As a journalist I shot off an e-mail to Ms. Aruna Sharma, Director General of Doordarshan, with copies to Ms. Ambika Soni, Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Dr. Jegathrakshagan, Minister of  State, I&B, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mr. Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Saba, BJP President Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Senior BJP Leader Mr. L.K. Advani, Mr. B.S. Lalli, CEO Prasar Bharati, Mr. Ashok Jeilkhani, R. Venkateswarulu and Smt. Usha Bhasin (All Deputy Director Generals, Doordarshan). The letter dated 22 March 2010 gives complete details and requests the authorities to kindly investigate the serious matter and take appropriate action as per norms. I requested them to save Chennai Doordarshan from becoming a mouthpiece of Christianity and reinstate Vande Mataram, so that it remains patriotic. I requested an acknowledgement and assurance from the authorities that they would take immediate action. Till the time of writing this article, they had not responded.

It is understood that Minister of State for I & B Dr. Jegathrakshagan reprimanded the Chennai team in a meeting of senior officials in New Delhi for allowing so evangelical programs. He is believed to have asked, “When all denominations of Christianity have their own channels exclusively for evangelization and preaching, why do you allow them in Podhigai?” But he seems not to have taken any action to stop them either!

Conclusion

We cannot allow this indifferent attitude of the ministry and department to linger. If one channel functions without protest, the whole of Doordarshan and Akashvani would soon become official channels of Christianity. I urge readers to register their protests by sending mails to the concerned ministers and senior officials. Doordarshan must oblige.

[Some important E-Mail IDs:

Ms. Aruna Sharma, Director General, Doordarshan [email protected]

Ms. Ambika Soni, Minister, Information and Broadcasting [email protected] and [email protected]

Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan, Minister of state, Information and Broadcasting [email protected]

Ashok Jailkhani Dep.Director Gen (Program) [email protected]

R. Venkateswarlu Dep.Director Gen (Program) [email protected]

Ms. Usha Bhasin Dir.General Gen (Program) [email protected]

B.S. Lalli, CEO PB [email protected]]

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