“Every lie is a poison; there are no harmless lies. Only the truth is safe. Only the truth gives me consolation - it is the one unbreakable diamond.” Leo Tolstoy

On December 23, 2019, four members of the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) met Dr. Anil Kumar Shingal, the Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), and submitted a letter expressing our concerns. Based on our knowledge, we feel that as many as 15% of Christians are working at TTD and requested him to investigate and take appropriate action. Shingalji was not surprised at our assessment and never questioned our numbers.  In fact, he asked us to submit the names of known Christians working at TTD. GHHF submitted 16 names working at BIRRD hospital and requested him to act. No action is taken to our knowledge.

Over the years, several warnings were issued to Christians by government authorities and TTD officials saying that only Hindus are allowed to work at TTD and non-Hindus should leave their jobs to be transferred to another government job. They never took their warnings seriously. Now is the time to issue ULTIMATUM to all employees to declare their faith. Let us look at how many times the Christians were told to identify themselves and move on to another job.

Announced Several Times – Only Hindus should work at Hindu Temples

1. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu declared in August 2024 that the state government of Andhra Pradesh will implement a policy of exclusively engaging Hindus to work in temples within the state.
2. B R Naidu, newly appointed TTD chairperson said, “The TTD is a Hindu religious institution, and the board felt that it should not employ non-Hindus to work in the temple. We shall write to the government to either absorb them in various other departments or offer them a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).”
3. Even Jagan’s government issued a similar order for the Tirupati temple. Before this, two significant orders on the matter were issued: one in 1989 and another in 2007.
4. In August 2019, then-chief secretary LV Subrahmanyam said that non-Hindu TTD employees would be removed. He also said that employees recruited as Hindus, who may have converted to other religions, cannot be allowed to continue in the job. The stay order against termination was still in place when he made this statement.
5. TTD’s Service Rules, laid down in a Government Order dated October 24, 1989, were amended in 2007 to say that it can recruit only Hindus. “Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules or any other rules now in vogue, appointment to any of the posts in any category in any of the institutions administered or substantially funded by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams shall be made only from among the persons professing Hindu Religion,” the Service Rules say.
6. The Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled in November 2023 that individuals who are not Hindus and are followers of other faiths shall not be employed in Hindu temples. “Only those who follow Hindu religion are eligible to work in temples,” Justice Harinath Nunepally said.

Enforcement of the policy of “only Hindus to work in temples” is a challenge for any government. It is difficult to implement if the concerned employees keep lying and concealing their Christian identity to demean our Gods, criticize Lord Venkateswara as a Shila (rock), insult practicing Hindus and sow the seeds of doubt among Hindu employees and to convert as many people as possible. Despite the repeated announcements, Christians conceal their identity and work in TTD and other Temples. Because the political leaders have always played it safe by not enforcing the G. Os that require all the employees to be Hindus. The government officials do not make any effort to identify these concealed Christians because of the fear of Vote bank politics.

Hence, unless there are stringent checks from time to time, with measures such as surprise raids, or cross-referencing names with church membership lists, Naidu, despite his seemingly good intentions, may struggle to implement this effectively.

Despite numerous announcements, if Christians are still working at TTD, it tells us two things:

1. Christian employees feel that politicians are not serious about taking any severe action against them and they know they can cheat and continue to work at TTD and make it a sacrilegious place.
2. Christian employees feel that TTD officials do not take severe measures to identify their faith and do not investigate, do not make surprise visits to their houses, and ignore the evidence submitted by people who are passionate about protecting the sanctity of Balaji Temple.

“Those non-Hindu employees working in the TTD or endowments should voluntarily come out and show up themselves if they have courage. If needed, we won’t hesitate to conduct surprise inspections in the houses of employees to ensure they are not practicing other religions,’’ the Chief Secretary informed. But we all know they would not come forward and identify themselves as Christians. Their mission is to disturb the peace, poison the peaceful environment and vitiate Hindu rituals. What is the solution?

Ultimatum

Should TTD give an ULTIMATUM to all her employees? What does it mean?  An ultimatum is a final demand attached to a threat, like "If you don't do it, it will happen like this.” This is a demand whose fulfilment is requested within a specified time that must be backed up by a threat.

If TTD is serious about identifying and removing them from working, it should issue ULTIMATUM to all employees asking them to announce their faith within a certain period of time – about two weeks. The ultimatum should make clear the advantages and advantages of revealing their true religious identity. Employees should be made aware of the fact that concealing the identity of their faith would result in the immediate termination of their job with no privileges for further employment in the State government.

When do you give an ultimatum to your employees? In any Hindu Temple setting, one should only give an ultimatum to employees when they repeatedly violate the policy. That means certain non-Hindu employees continue to work concealing their religion despite repeated warnings. In such cases, the Temple authorities should communicate the consequences of not revealing their identity, which could lead to termination.

 · If they reveal their religious identity as a Hindu, then they will be allowed to continue their employment.

 · If they reveal their religious identity as Christians, TTD should transfer them to other governmental departments with the help of the State government.

 · If TTD employees declare their identity as Hindus, if TTD finds out that an employee turn out to be a Christian, he should be terminated immediately with no privileges and he should not be allowed to work in the State government. If TTD does not strictly enforce the law, the non-Hindus can create a lot of problems for the Hindus, also start poisoning their minds, and may even convert them to Christianity with more incentives.

 · Concealment of one’s religion is contrary to the principles of morals and ethics and against the law.

 · Integrity, sacredness of TTD, and spiritual environment should be given the highest priority to represent the richness of Sanatana Dharma.

 · Lying should not be rewarded with further employment in any other department in the State.

In conclusion, GHHF requests TTD Chairman and Trust Board to take seriously the presence of deceptive Christians working in Devasthanam, Hospitals, educational institutions and other organizations who are causing havoc to the Hindu employees and poisoning the sanctity of Punya Kshetra. Truth matters. TTD should be the harbinger of dharma and silence the untruth. Ultimatum is one of the best options TTD should follow to root out the deception and lying.