[h=2]Sad state of affairs in Andhra on account of the YSR's (Ex Congress CM promoted out of turn by Madame)promotion of Evangelism[/h] YSR was the desi version of Constantine, the ruler of the Roman Empire under whom Christianity established itself as a dominant force in Rome. Much like Constantine, YSR too promoted Christianity offering it state patronage. YSR’s son-in-law,
Brother Anil Kumar is a well-known and established evangelist in Andhra Pradesh. Missionaries were given a free hand and bolstered by state support, they did what they do best:
disconnect people from their roots and make the converts hate their own traditions, handed down to them since time immemorial.
It was a common sight to watch troves of neo-converts move from village to village distributing evangelist literature in the form of books and pamphlets. The seed of Christianity was first sown by the British who had implanted several missions and Church institutions. In my village there are several families who had converted at the time of Independence. Under YSR, the missionaries received a shot in the arm and began to build upon the foundations laid by the British.
The Congress government actually gave financial assistance to Christian institutions. Christians were also showered with sops like scholarships, loans, subsidies and so forth. This policy of appeasement did not stop during Kiran Kumar Reddy’s tenure as CM. Under Chandrababu Naidu’s Chief Ministership since 2014, one expected succour but the status quo remains. I shall give a small fact: according to a government order (GO-63) in February 2014, a total of 14-plus crores was sanctioned towards the construction, repair and/or renovation of Churches and Church-run institutions. For details, visit the Government-run Website for Christian minorities (
Andhra Pradesh Christian Minority Corporation).
It seems that Christians are the ‘chosen people’ of Andhra Pradesh and Christianity, the state religion.
All this is happening at the expense of the taxpayer. Indeed, with governments like these we do not need foreign missionaries. We are quite adept at shooting ourselves in the foot. The Congress with its chief being a Roman Catholic promoted Christianity one the lines of the popular Sanskrit saying ‘Yatha Raja, Thatha Praja’. It made electoral sense for them: pastors and padres acted as vote bank managers and had delivered to them the much-needed electoral results in the state before
Jagan Mohan Reddy—son of YSR—chose to split from the parent party. Now the loyalties of Christians remain divided between Congress, YSR Congress and TDP. The current CMs of Andhra and Telangana, Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao know the demographics very well and therefore the state favouritism towards the Christian community continues unhindered. KCR also promised the construction of a Christian Bhavan in Hyderabad at the cost of 10 crores.
Christianity brings along with it, its thick memes. And so oil-anointing, exorcism (freeing souls from the Devil), faith healing, and religious exclusivism have entered mainstream consciousness in Andhra Pradesh. Posters of missionaries commonly claim to cure diseases including cancer and AIDS.
It is infinitely saddening to see how vast numbers of these people—our very own people—who have readily succumbed to the dogmas bought in by a foreign religion. The direction the Indian society is headed after internalizing such belief systems is pretty clear. And tragic.
How Evangelism made Andhra an economic, cultural and spiritual ruin | IndiaFacts
