Is Christian evangelism backing anti-Ramdev crusade?

Many of the events of the past — Emergency, Operation Bluestar, Indira Gandhi's assassination, Kashmir insurgency, Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, the crowning of Sonia Gandhi — were unfortunate. Some were avoidable. For instance, Indira Gandhi imposing the Emergency showed that democracy was fragile and could easily be hijacked.

But what happened on Sunday, June 5, 2011, in the early morning at the Ramlila grounds tops even the imposition of Emergency. The police, armed with teargas and lathis, swooped down on women, children, and old men, all led by a yoga guru who had never harmed anybody in his life but, on the contrary, brought happiness to hundreds of thousands of people.

There is no doubt that nobody in the Congress, not even the prime minister, would have dared to take such a drastic decision, without the express consent of Sonia Gandhi. In fact, only she would have been capable of taking that decision. Thus, she will have to bear the consequences, the karma, of her hostile act against the very core of this country: the millions of peaceful, tolerant Hindus, who were represented at the Ramlila grounds by a hundred thousand of them.

This act demonstrates the utter cynicism of the Congress and its desire to stay in power at all costs and by all means. What is frightening is that Indians indirectly support the Congress by their silence and sometimes by their overt approval of the government's action. They keep quiet when Indian imams mourn the death of Osama bin Laden. And they lend credence to the lies of the Congress against a man who did no wrong except demand an end to the cancer of corruption that is eating away at the entrails of this ancient and sacred country.

What is also sad is the disunity of gurus at this time of great danger. We know that Hindu gurus and Hindus are under threat in Sonia's India. Many of them have already been hit: the shankaracharya was arrested and thrown in jail, the late Sathya Sai Baba suffered accusations of paedophilia, Amrita Anandamayi lives under the shadow of hostile communists in Kerala, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is targeted as the 'guru of the rich', etc...

Accusations against Hinduism of superstition, brainwashing, ritualistic ignorance, as have been thrown at Ramdev, date back from the British missionaries and have been taken up today by the communists, sections of the Congress, and the media. Yet, Hinduism, at least the Hinduism that goes beyond the rituals and becomes universal spirituality, as Swami Ramdev or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar teach it, has nothing to do with superstition and conning people; it is all about science, knowledge, and light. Look at pranayama, a science that has known for thousands of years how to harness breath and use it for controlling the mind, for a better and more spiritualised life.

The greatest curse of Hinduism through the ages has been its disunity and betraying one and another. The British did not conquer India; it was given to them by its warring Hindu princes, jealous of each other. The same is true of Islamic conquest. Today, if the combined forces of communist, Muslim, and Christian fundamentalists and the Congress win, it will not be because of their strength and valour but rather because of the disunity of Hindu leaders.

Will the people of India allow it? I hope not, for we have entered now an area of semi-dictatorship, where hundreds of thousands of phones are tapped, emails are read, letters opened, gurus arrested, journalists scared to speak aloud.

Wake up, O ancient people of India! Your very culture and ancient spirituality are in danger at the hands of a lady of a foreign origin like me, a Christian like me, but who not only has no understanding of your ancient spirituality that people call Hinduism, but is also basically hostile to it and will not hesitate to strike it as she did on Sunday, June 5, 2011, at the Ramlila grounds, New Delhi.