Hyderabad: At a time when religion in India has been mostly overshadowed by fringe groups, the idea that a Hindu priest who would defend the pluralism of the the Deccan and India is almost unthinkable. Sri Ranganathan, the chief priest of the Chilkur Balaji priest, who was attacked by members of the right-wing Rama Rajya group, perhaps faced the attacked for his inclusive thoughts about the social fabric of the country, especially Telangana.
In older interviews on social media, Ranganathan can be seen discussing Indian history and religion, wherein he speaks about the Nizams of Hyderabad who donated land to temples and scholarships to pundits. “There is the Telangana State Archive in Tarnaka which has two million documents in Urdu. Prof Suleman Siddiqui showed me an article about it,” the chief priest of the Chilkur Balaji temple can be seen saying.
The priest in fact even goes on to defend the pluralism of the Deccan region, saying that there are no problems (between religious communities) here. “The (Telangana) Deccan taught how to live in harmony,” sayd Ranganathan. He was attacked by members of the Hindutva group Rama Rajyam on February 7 in his residence after he refused to give in to their demands.
Hyderabad: Chilkur Balaji priest attackers planned parallel govt, army
The chief priest of the Chilkur Balaji temple, Sri Rangarajan, was attacked by members of the Hindutva group Rama Rajyam after he refused to support them financially and against helping them recruit more members into the organisation. The priest was essentially attacked by the accused, who claimed to be of the ‘Iskhvaku’ clan, for not accepting their ‘mission’.
The organisation according to its website is a Hindutva organisation operating from Hyderabad. The police said that Veer Raghava Reddy used Bhagavad Gita slokas and manipulated people to join the Army to “protect Hindu Dharma”. He also announced that individuals registering between September and December 2024 would be recruited into the ‘Rama Rajyam Army’ with a salary of Rs 20,000.
‘I was at a mosque day before Ayodhya judgement’
“If tomorrow is the Ayodhya (Ram temple) judgement, then I was at a mosque today. I was at the Ishaq Masjid for a clinic inauguration. They had completed something and they called me, some Imams/ Maulvis and a church father. The media had come there and asked me about the Ayodhya judgement. I said Bhadrachalam is southern Ayodhya and that there are no problems here,” the Chilkur Balaji chief priest said in the interview.
A political analyst who did not want to be quoted said that it is very rare that right wingers attack priests in the south, especially in Telangana. “But it seems like the culture in the north where such groups have the galls to actually attack such highly placed people is now seeping into the south. Nobody even knew the existence of this group until the incident happened. What was the police doing? They should have kept tabs on them and known of their existence,” he told Siasat.com
Chilkur Balaji priest attackers planned parallel govt
Veera Raghava Reddy, who was arrested by Cyberabad police of Telangana for attacking Chilkur Balaji Temple head priest C S Rangarajan, had formed an organisation ‘Rama Rajyam’, that was to function more or less as a full-fledged parallel government. The organisation is supposed to be guided and function for the establishment of Rama Rajyam and its structure shall function and carry out the activities as stated under Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4-7 & 8 and 18-17 & 43 ‘ r/w Article 48 and Article 361 (Rajapramukha) of the Constitution of India.
