More than 300 Hindu Munnani activists, BJP cadre and local villagers were arrested for staging a protest since Saturday (June 19th) morning against the illegal construction of a church near the Mathur Aqueduct in Kalkulam Taluk of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu.

The Hindu Munnani activists along with local villagers protested at about 50 places in Kanyakumari demanding the removal of the unauthorized Church constructed without necessary permission from authorities. Moreover the church was being constructed by encroaching illegally on public land.

As reported by The Communemag, one of the Hindu Munnani leaders said that as per the Venugopal Commission report, no Church can be built even on private land, leave alone public land post the Mandaikadu communal riots.

He informed about the clandestine methods employed by Christian missionaries to build illegal churches all over Kanyakumari. He stated that Christian missionaries slyly take a building on rent and construct a Cross over it illegally.

He further said, “Sometimes they build a structure without permission and function without electricity connection for years. Later, they use their influence and regularize the Church. There are hundreds of Churches in the district like this.”

Among the more than 300 people arrested, Nagercoil BJP MLA, M.R. Gandhi and BJP Kanyakumari district President, Dharmaraj was also arrested. Those arrested were later released late in the evening. M.R. Gandhi, Dharmaraj, RSS leader Rajendran, Hindu Munnani’s Misa Soman and other activists held a meeting with the Sub-Collecter.

The Sub-Collector told them that legal permission was not granted to build a new Church and the illegal structure would be covered by a tarpaulin as an interim arrangement. The Hindu Munnani and the local villagers want the illegal Church building to be demolished by the civic authorities as such blatant encroachment and taking over of public spaces by Christian missionaries lead to communal tensions and breach public peace.

News input and image source: The Communemag.

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