A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited a Christmas celebration organised by the Catholic Ministers Conference of India (CBCI) in Delhi, a senior traditional church priest from Kerala took a dig at the occasion. “There, they honour religious administrators and respect the accommodation. Here, they crush the accommodation. That’s what (we) call it in Malayalam,” he posted on Facebook. In Christian tradition, accommodation forms part of a nativity scene that depicts the birth of Jesus. Metropolitan Yuhanon Meletius of the Malankara Standard Syrian Church was referring to two subsequent incidents of vandalism at Christmas celebrations in government schools in Palakkad. In one incident, three VHP leaders were arrested in Chittoor, while in the other case, a search is on for the confirmed miscreants. When students and teachers of the Government Upper Primary School at Nallepilli in Palakkad were taking part in Christmas celebrations on Friday, three VHP leaders led by Palakkad district secretary K Anil Kumar allegedly asked the teachers why Krishna Janmashtami is not celebrated instead of Christmas. They also wanted to know why the teachers were wearing Santa Claus costumes. The VHP leaders were booked under BNS sections 329 (3), 296 (B), 351 (2) and 132. In another incident reported under the same police limits in Palakkad, cots made at the Government Primary School at Thathamangalam were found damaged on Monday. The school was closed for a week of Christmas last Friday after the semester examinations.
The police have registered a case and investigations are underway. As part of the BJP’s continued campaign efforts, party leaders are visiting religious leaders in Kerala under a Christmas programme called “Sneha Yatra”. BJP state president K Surendran said there was a conspiracy behind the Palakkad incidents. “Action must be taken against the culprits. This should be seen as a larger conspiracy to spoil the BJP’s relationship with the Christian community. Our stand is very clear and genuine. Last year, when the BJP Wayanad region president (K Madhu) had called the clerics (who opposed wildlife attacks) terrorists, we had removed him from the post,” Surendran said.
