Minister MM ManiThiruvananthapuram: Kerala electricity minister M.M. Mani stepped up his tirade against the Devikulam subcollector who led the demolition of a cross in encroached government land near Munnar, going to the extent of calling him communal. He also hurled abuses at the subcollector.
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The Idukki strongman said the cross had been standing on the Pappathichola hill for 64 years and Tom Zachariah, the preacher who founded the Christian group responsible for the cross and surrounding structures, was no land grabber.
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The Idukki district administration found itself at the receiving end after officials demolished the cross and other illegal structures on top of the hill last week. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and local CPM leaders have lambasted Idukki district collector G.R. Gokul and subcollector Sriram Venkitaraman.
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Mani insulted Sriram on air on Sunday and said that Gokul was incapable. He compared the demolition of the cross to the destruction of the Babri Masjid. “Only religious fundamentalists can rejoice when a cross is demolished. I doubt that the sub collector is one among them. He was that excited to demolish the cross,” Mani said in a televised interview.
He said it was stupid to file a criminal case against Zachariah, whose family has been accused of encroaching vast swathes of government land in Idukki district. The Spirit in Jesus ministry Zachariah formed in 1988 had been conducting prayer meetings on top of the Pappathichola hill.
He lashed out at anyone who defended the eviction drive in Munnar. He doubted the sanity of opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and other leaders of the United Democratic Front. He said Chennithala had affinities to the RSS.
He said former bureaucrat K Suresh Kumar was busy drinking and smoking up when he was sent to Munnar as the head of a special task force to clear encroachments 10 years ago. Kumar had said that he was convinced that Zachariah was part of a land grab mafia.
Mani not even spared the Christian bishops and priests who said that the cross was put up on encroached land. “The cross had been there for 64 years. Where were they all these years?” he asked.
