Christian literature published on TTD website removed

Hyderabad: A book named ‘Bhakti Geethamrutha Lahari’, published on Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam’s (TTD) e-publication website in the year 2002, contains three pages praising Jesus Christ. The URL link to the book has been disabled after a complaint was filed on Monday.

According to the index of the book ‘Bhakti Geethamrutha Lahari’, the said pages — 182, 183, and 184 — should refer to Sai Baba. However, they talk about Jesus Christ.

The author of the book is Monda Chinna Seetaramayya, a retired Telugu lecturer from Rajahmundry’s Dhavaleswaram. It is clearly, mentioned in the book that it is published with the “Financial Assistance of TIRUMALA TIRUPATI Devasthanams under their Scheme ‘Aid to publish Religious Books’ (sic)”.

This issue came into limelight after a few people brought it to the notice of AS Santosh, President of Legal Rights Protection Forum. Santosh filed a complaint against misleading Christian literature on TTD website and the financial support provided by TTD for its publishing. He urged the officials to conduct a detailed investigation into the issue.

The complaint copy has been sent to the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, the Principal Secretary of Endowments Department, the Commissioner of State Endowments Department. TTD’s Joint Executive Officer, Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, and Special Officer also received a copy.

Talking to NewsMeter, Santosh said, “The content praising Jesus Christ was put in TTD’s book with officials’ knowledge. It cannot be a mistake or ignorance. It is clearly a criminal conspiracy, and we demand a detailed investigation into this issue.”

In the complaint, Santosh mentioned, “It is clear that there is a conspiracy by Christian missionaries to destroy Hindu dharma by targeting various Hindu dharmic institutions. The present matter can be treated as a part of that conspiracy. Moreover, such incidents cannot have happened without internal support and cooperation from corrupt employees/members of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams.”

The PDF copy of ‘Bhakti Geethamrutha Lahari’ was removed from the TTD website after the complaint. However, NewsMeter has acquired a copy from Santosh. When we approached TTD’s JEO CC Natarajan, he said, “The book, published in 2012, was removed from the website after complaints were filed. We have put an enquiry into the issue.”

Legal Rights Protection Forum has posted a series of tweets about the incident on Twitter.

Christian Literature on TTD's Official site published by its Financial Support.

Filed complaint with AP CS, Prl Secretary and Commissioner (Endowments), TTD JEO & Vigilance.

Sought proper investigation into the criminal conspiracy and strict action against criminals. pic.twitter.com/PaQSOIcU25

— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) September 23, 2019

URL is now disabled by authorities.https://t.co/ve8xpiYUwL

But we are strongly demanding proper investigation into this criminal conspiracy of destroying the sanctity of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. https://t.co/v9lnNTPKBy

— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) September 23, 2019