Thread by @kvsarmaj

Most think that the story of the decade in a laid back town like Rajamahendravaram is the rise and rise of the radical evangelical Christian faith.

The real story is the undeniable growth of the Islamic fundamentalist middle class.

Just 2 decades ago, in this town, we had hardly a handful of Muslims who would refuse to speak with others in Telugu. Only the marwadi women used to refuse to speak in Telugu - they would never learn the language.

In the case of the marwadis, it is not a great problem because of their ability to assimilate with the local culture made them easy to work with.

Even today in nallamandu sandu (Gunpowder street, literally), the marwadis engaged in simple trading enterprises celebrate almost every Hindu festival with much fanfare supported by the local ecosystem.

With Muslims, we know what it means if a lot of them refuse to engage with the local population in the local language. Just a decade ago, on this same platform, I used to challenge many "liberals" that the tier-2 and tier-2 towns would see the same behavior as we see in tier-1.

Well, here we are. The under-current growth of the Muslim community in this town is difficult to miss. The challenge for Hindus would be to fight a two-front battle. There is no credible Hindu leader who can at least make people realize the dangers of this shift.

The population is living in a far too dreamy movie world where everybody except the politician and businessman is a good guy. Nobody is with the Hindu community. Things are set to change for the worst in the coming decade.

A glimmer of one good news of a very very small magnitude amid all this. The notorious evangelist who had a lot of political backing had been owning and operating a huge church in the town - K Swatantra Kumar.

His church used to bring very poor kids to the school operating within the same campus. Due to the generosity of the only true God, they used to realize the truth and convert, we used to be told.

He once bought many apartments in the area in anticipation to bring in evangelists from the US with satellite connections so that they can run their campaign from the US.

After RSS folks made a lot noise of the misuse of the tourist visa, local police took action and the evangelists fled. I heard that he had sold the properties to make good profits.

In a street corner, he constructed a cross illegally and tried brazen his way through. Again, the silly and mumbo jumbo Hindutvavadi RSS fellows had a huge role to play in getting it removed.

So the news is his huge campus has been locked down for refusal to pay huge electricity dues. It seems like he fled the town. Even while it was active, another church came up right beside his. That church is flourishing.

If and when these two communities come to loggerheads, like it is happening today in Kerala, Hindus would have to face serious consequences in the crossfire. The Hindu community is not interested.

People of Rajamahendravaram have an easy way out thankfully - The Mudi Must Rejine.