Hindu organisations have accused missionaries of drawing cross, burying a corpse near a temple and proselytising the devotees in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. Based on their complaint 13 Christians have been booked for proselytising in a Hindu temple and desecrating a national monument.
The 800 year old Gingee fort in Villupuram, TN is famous for its fortifications. It was hailed as the Troy of the East by Westerners. It is said that when the Marathas captured it from Moghuls, Shivaji Maharaj called it ‘invincible’. The fort was recaptured by Aurangzeb’s forces and the temples built inside the fort during Nayaka rule were ransacked.
To this day many ransacked temples inside and outside the fort remain abandoned despite Hindus’ pleas to renovate them and resume worship. However some that survived the plunder are maintained and still in worship. One of them is the Veera Anjaneya temple at the foothills. This temple also was vandalised and only the main part remains unscathed.
Hindu organisations have alleged that 12 Christians led by one Shadrach and Eliza from Chennai defiled the rock formations near the temple by drawing the cross on them and writing “Jesus Calls”. They have also been accused of burying a corpse near the temple and preaching to the devotees in the mandapam through speakers. Hindu organisations have lodged a complaint with the local police and ASI against the missionaries. Gingee police called them up and sent them back with a warning.
In April, after the assembly elections were over, posters saying “Bless Tamil Nadu Jesus” cropped up all over the state with some of them being put up even on temple walls. In November 2020, a Christian evangelist had pasted a poster on a temw inscription saying “I’m the lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no other god; I’ll strengthen you though you have not acknowledged me”.
There have been accusations from all quarters that evangelists have become more emboldened since DMK came to power as they openly supported the party in the assembly elections. CM MK Stalin had expressed his gratitude to the Christian community in a Church of South India event saying that the government was formed by Christians.
