THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The claim made by Mr T.G. Mohandas, convener of the BJP’s intellectual cell, that the St. Andrew's Basilica, Arthunkal, Alappuzha district, was once a Siva temple and that the Hindus should reclaim it has set alarm bells ringing not only among the Christians, but also the BJP leaders. Mr Mohandas, who is also an RSS pracharak, had tweeted on Saturday that if excavations were conducted at the church, the remains of the temple could be found. His vitriolic tweet has caused headache to the BJP leadership which has been trying to woo the Christian groups to its fold.
“The altar of the church kept falling during construction and the clergymen approached an astrologer who advised them to build it a little away from where the original sanctum sanctorum of the temple stood. It’s the responsibility of each Hindu to reclaim this temple,” tweeted Mr Mohandas. The BJP leaders criticised him for triggering an unwarranted controversy. “It is his personal opinion and the BJP has nothing to do with it. The issue has never been discussed in any of the party forums and he is living in a fool’s paradise,” said a former state BJP president.
Another former BJP president said people like Mohandas were bringing shame to the party. “Mohandas is not an official spokesperson of the party,” he said. The Mararikulam police, as instructed by Mr S. Surendran, Alappuzha police chief, registered a case against Mr Mohandas for provoking communal tension. AIYF district secretary T. T. Jismon had filed a complaint with Mr Surendran against the tweet. Mr Surendran also asked the Cherthala DySP to register a case under CrPC 153 (A) for creating communal hatred and ordered to give protection to Arthunkal, the third Basilica of the Roman Catholic (Latin Rite) Church in Kerala.
