[On 25 December 2008, Swami Amritananda Dev Tirtha, Shankaracharya of the PoK-based Sri Sharada Sarvagya Peeth, managed to convey a letter to his followers, alluding to his sufferings and humiliation in police custody, a mirror image of the degradation of Hindus in secular India. The letter, written in Hindi, has been translated by Sandhya Jain, Editor, www.vijayvaani.com] 

India, the fourth-most populous nation in the world, the sole Hindu nation, yet also a divided India, weighed down by secularism, feels guilty about being a Hindu nation. Since the last 1200 years, ignorant of its united strength, this society which lacks the courage to speak the truth and has much experience in evading the lessons of history, suffering much humiliation and aggression, is now searching and struggling for its identity.

In this connection, I, the symbol of Hindu Samaj’s identity and faith, anointed Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Anantsri Bibhushit Swami Amritananda Dev Tirtha (born Sudhakar Dhar), Shankaracharya, Sri Sharada Sarvagya Peeth, Jammu Kashmir (PoK), in the present circumstances, unhappy at Hindu Samaj’s worthless, indifferent, disbelieving and faithless leadership, am writing this letter. Because, via the Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad, Hindu society is being misled and their cruel and dehumanizing atrocities towards me – from propagating a fraudulent identity of Dayanand Pandey, which was never my name, and calling me a self-declared Sant, Mahant, or Pujari –– have forced me to accept the commission of certain crimes:-

1] My saffron robes were removed, I was denuded and kept wetted in an air-conditioned room for three days and given electric shocks.

2] The Sri Yantra and religious books (including Japuji Sahib) used for my personal puja were trampled upon and thrown in a gutter.

3] Three men would stand upon my legs and hit me with belts on the soles of my feet, till I fell unconscious.

4] Meat was pushed into my mouth and I was told that it was cow-flesh (beef).

5] I was forced to read certain scripts, and then my voice dubbed, and audio-video tapes produced.

6] I was threatened that pornographic CDs would be made about me [i.e., by computer simulation] to defame me in Hindu society.

These are just some examples. I lived 17 days in their custody, and you can yourself imagine what they would have done to me.

If ATS had any proof against me, why did they need to cook up fake evidence against me? ATS said, “here we will kill you, outside Muslims will kill you; you have to die in any case, so accept your crimes.” They made me mug up the answers of questions and then did a narco-analysis.

In these circumstances, I hope that Hindu society will accept and read this letter as proof of the truth of its Dharmacharyas.

It would be appropriate to mention here that the root and ancient seat of the Shankaracharya parampara, Sri Sharada Sarvagya Peeth, lies in gram Shardi, taluka Attumukam, district Neelam, divided India’s northern-most state of Jammu Kashmir, in the 48% territory seized by Pakistan. Not only was this seat lost because of this Pakistani seizure, but over the last 60 years, that region’s lakhs of Hindus have in lost their human rights, been denied basic civic amenities, and are running from pillar to post without social or governmental assistance. 

Three resolutions to take back Pak-Occupied Kashmir are gathering dust. This attitude of secular governments is known to the Islamic nations and Islamic leadership, as a result of which a policy of oppression is being followed, and in India, Islamic conversions are taking place with the support of Pakistan and other Islamic nations. The result is that 18-20 years ago, lakhs of Hindus were compelled to abandon Kashmir; they found refuge in other Hindu states of the nation. But today, in seven coastal states, Hindus are a minority of less than 10%. So if the same type of flight of Hindus takes place in other states, where will they take refuge?

Eminent thinkers of this fear-ridden society, the Kashi Vidwit Parishad, Dandi Sannyasi Seva Samiti, the faith-loving and reputed persons of Kashi, joined hands and organised a Sarvajanik Samaroh, and re-established Sri Sharada Sarvagya Peeth’s lost Shankaracharya parampara. The challenge was to stop the oppression and flight of Hindus of  PoK; share the sufferings of resident Hindus of PoK and help them get justice and their rights; encourage Kashmiri Pandits to return to the Valley; and remind the Government of the three Parliamentary resolutions to reclaim PoK. Thus, on 16 May 2003, I was anointed Shankaracharya and charged with these responsibilities. Since then to the present day, combating all kinds of dangers and threats, I have been fulfilling my responsibility. A special report on this may be read in the 17 February 2008 edition of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser.

The Jammu region of a Bharat divided on the basis of religion, from the time of independence itself, has become the kasauti (touchstone) of secularism. There, the anointment of a Shankaracharya can expose official secularism. Driven by this fear, the Central and State Governments have sought to use the Abhinav Bharat programmes and in my official capacity as Kashmir Shankaracharya, used the ATS to cook up evidences and incriminate me.

Therefore, via Hindu society, I appeal to the Respected President and Respected Judiciary to permit me to commit suicide, because after this kind of humiliation, I am dying a slow death every second. And, because of the events that befell me, which I take as a sign of the heavy dangers facing the society, I hope that the suicidal Hindu society and its leadership will be alert and awake.

With this hope and conviction, and with my blessings
Swami Amritananda Dev Tirtha
Srimad Jagadguru Shankaracharya
Sri Sharada Sarvagya Peeth, Kashmir, Bharat

[Note: The noble souls who receive this letter, are hereby requested, via the media, to approach the Hindu people of their respective areas to acquaint them with this reality. Because, on account of the ATS’ orders, none of my letters are going out of the jail. This letter is being conveyed via the good offices of Smt. Himani Savarkar. For additional information, please do contact her. Please demand a judicial enquiry into these incidents and appropriate punishment of the guilty.

For those who seek additional information about me, please search the internet for ‘Swami Amritananda,’ and see the following websites:
www.sarvagyapeeth.com
www.sarvagyapeeth.geocity.com

Swami Amritananda Dev Tirtha
U.T. No. 12504
Arthur Road Central Jail, Mumbai, Maharashtra]