 |
| Quote from Elie Wiesel famous quotes.com |
 |
| Catholics plundering western ghat areas. illegal encroahment. 2018 vsktelangana.org/ |
In the last two decades, many wooded areas including the sacred forest of Panchalimedu in the state of Kerala are facing large-scale encroachment, in particular by certain catholic church groups with ample support from some politicians who have a vested interest in this. In a world where communism no longer gets any respect, in the state of Kerala, the communist party of India has been a coalition partner in the government. Presently, the communist members of the State legislative assembly are politically powerful.
In the recent past in the matter of the sacred shrine Sabarimala Ayyappan and the entry of menstruating women there, the government openly interfered in the internal affairs of the Hindu temple. It became a serious issue in the state of Kerala, causing widespread protests among the Hindus . Even the other states joined the bandwagon and resented the attitude of the government headed by a Communist CM. Panchalimedu is a sacred place for local Hindus named after Panchali/Draupadi. It is said Pandavas of (Mahabharata) during the 12 years of exile spent part of their period here, a serene place. An ancient Bhuvaneswari temple, under the Travancore Devaswom Board, is also nearby and lots of people go there for worship.
 |
| Quote from R. Nienuhr. libquotescom |
Certain catholic church groups who get money from overseas charities in the name of building orphanages, schools, etc use the money for the spread of Christianity among the gullible and pocket a big chunk for their personal use. These groups, in collusion with certain corrupt people in the government, illegally occupy big lands in the forest areas under the pretext of building churches and providing free housing for the poor. Later these lands will be converted into tea-estates or sold for a hefty profit. The tea estates will give them lucrative business and regular income. Several Kerala media reports have written about the massive ill-legal encroachment by the church allegedly with the support of the communist regime of Kerala. The Church has allegedly resorted to its ingenious strategy by way of illegal occupation of forest area on assurance of votes from their religious organizations to support the government. As stated earlier, the Church group illegally occupied the sacred forests of Panchalimedu. No steps had been taken to clear the illegal occupants until it became an environmental issue.
Upon pressure from the public, the government intervened and a village officer later ordered the demolition and removal of crosses planted by a Christian Church group on the hills of Panchalimedu in Idukki district within a given time as reported by Janam TV. The encroached lands are part of the ‘sacred forests’ associated with the Sabarimala temple, known as ‘Poonkavanam’ in Kerala. One of the important and famous temples of India, annually, millions of devotees go to the Sabarimala temple on a long pilgrimage. They mostly walk barefoot on the trail to the shrine in the ghat area.
In June 2019 when a man (from the Hindu community) interested in preservation of natural environment approached the social media, he got the attention of the people over the numerous crosses firmly plated on the virgin hills of Panchalimedu, the people were aghast. Panchalimedu, a part of Sabarimala forests in Idukki district. The entire region is designated as an ecologically fragile under the Environment (Protection) Act. It was purely an illegal occupation of the government lands and nothing more than that. It is alleged that the present government led by a CM from the communist party was silent over this sensitive issue. Abusing of the government land that too an environmentally sensitive area in the name of religion is against the ethics of a democratic society. Here, in India religious freedom is over-exploited. If the same thing had happened in the USA or any other European country, the government reaction to this illegal activity would have been a different one, presumably, a harsh one.
Four decades ago, the Christian organisations had made a similar attempt to grab the Sabarimala lands in Nilakkal using the pretext that they had unearthed a stone cross, supposedly established by St. Thomas in 57 A.D. The priest stood the ground and would build a church without any valid proof. His stake was a false one, however, despite strong objection from the Hindus, the government handed over 5 acres of land free of cost to build a church there.
https://www.opindia.com/2019/06/village-officer-issues-order-to-demolish-and-remove-crosses-planted-by-church-on-encroached-land-near-sabarimala/15 June, 2019
