Hyderabad, Feb. 13 -- At a time when religion in India has been mostly overshadowed by fringe groups, the idea that a Hindu priest would defend the pluralism of the Deccan and India is almost unthinkable. Rangarajan, the chief priest of the Chilkur Balaji priest, who was attacked by members of the right-wing Rama Rajya group, perhaps faced the attack for his inclusive thoughts about the social fabric of the country, especially Telangana.

In older interviews on social media, Rangarajan 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 Sulem...