It may sound ironic that a cross, a powerful symbol in Christianity, is creating fissures between the ruling communist parties in Kerala—the CPI(M) and the CPI. The cross in picture is at Munnar, the hilly tourist destination which has been in news for the massive encroachment that has happened in this beautiful terrain.
The said cross was also on an encroached land. The controversy erupted when the district administration, with the whole-hearted support of the CPI which holds the revenue portfolio, brought the cross down using a bulldozer. The cross belonged to a self-styled evangelical group called 'Spirit in Jesus', an outfit spurned by the mainstream churches. It encroached up on 30 acres at Pappathicholamedu at Chinnakanal in high-range Idukki.
The cross was razed to ground after dramatic incidents where the local worshippers tried to block the revenue officials from reaching the venue. Carried out before dawn with the help of a strong police posse and with prohibitory orders in place, the visuals of the cross being pulled down by bulldozers were streamed repeatedly on TV channels.
All these, however, did not go down well with CM Pinarayi Vijayan who came down heavily on the district administration. Blaming the collector personally for going overboard, he termed the incident as an attack against the cross. Worried more about religious sentiments being hurt, a fuming Pinarayi said: "The move has created a feeling that the LDF government is waging a war against the cross. The government will not support such moves". The CM was of the opinion that hanging a government board after the takeover would have served the purpose rather than pulling the cross down.
"Majority of people in the state are those with a strong belief in the cross. So the government had to be informed before laying hands on it (cross)," Pinarayi went on to say. He also found serious fault with the district administration for not informing the government before taking such a step and ordered that JCBs should not operate in Munnar.
What may have upset the CM is the fear that the visuals will be used by opponents to hurt religious sentiments which would eventually further distance the CPI(M) from the Christian community, whom the party is desperately wooing.
But what he did not understand or rather missed is the fact that the said evangelistic group has no standing among the majority Christian communities. The group, which believes that the sins of the parents and forefathers visit them and cause diseases and failures in life, was in fact already sidelined by the Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council.
Naturally, much to the surprise of the CM and his supporters, the grazing down of the cross did not elicit any response from the majority community. While a good number of bishops openly supported the move, a few said the act could have been avoided.
The CPI, sensing a golden opportunity to score brownie points over the CPI(M), has decided to go ahead with the drive without buckling to the CPI(M) pressure. "We will not stop our move against the encroachers,'' said the revenue minister E. Chandrasekharan.
"The government’s decision is to clear all encroachments in Munnar,'' he said. When asked if more crosses have to be demolished during the eviction drive in future, he said he will think about it then.
Regardless of whether more crosses will fall or not, it is clear that the issue was just another opportunity for both communist parties to be at each other's throat.
