This Sunday, four non-believers (all in their early 20s) from Malappuram entered St. Teresa’s Monastery Church in Kochi, Kerala, and acted suspiciously. They received Thiruvosthi (Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread), consumed some, and slipped the rest into their pockets. Christian devotees who participated in the Mass reported the matter to the church authorities, following which they intimated local police, who arrived and took them into custody.
During Communion, the first young man stretched out his hands, but when the priest administered Holy Communion on his tongue, he bit it in half and pocketed the rest. Suspicion was strengthened when the next person did the same. The assembled Christians became doubtful of the behavior and quizzed them. They were identified as non-Christian natives of Malappuram, and none were holding ID cards.
These dramatic scenes unfolded during the Mass held at 6.30 pm. Ernakulam Central Police confirmed that the four were natives of Tanur in the Muslim-majority Malappuram district. During the interrogation, the youth claimed they had entered the church, curious to know what was happening. Meanwhile, the police refused to take their version at face value.
The police said that they were investigating whether they had any malicious intent. Their information has been handed over to the Malappuram Superintendent of Police. Authorities want to know whether they are associated with radical organizations. Ernakulam Police said they would detain them until they get more details from Malappuram.
Church authorities refused to register a complaint against the youth. (They know they are vulnerable.) The police said no case had been registered as no complaint had been received. Local newspapers reported conspiracy theories like Satan’s Worship.
Some groups perform sorcery rituals to please Satan, including desecrating the Holy Eucharist, which is the core of the Christian faith. Eucharist is the Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper. Priests dip Sacramental bread in wine and place it on the faithful’s tongue.
Satan worshipers believe that the desecration of the Eucharist will bring wealth and prosperity. They steal the blessed relics from the churches and desecrate them most severely in what is known as Black Mass. Blaspheming the Bible and committing such acts are part of their witchcraft. Satanic cults are active in metro cities like Ernakulam.
Non-Christians (curious and otherwise) often visit churches to check out proceedings but do not approach the priest for Sacramental bread dipped in wine. Christian devotees rarely object to such visits. Muslim youth, especially from Malabar, stand out in the way they arrive, wearing costumes that are always a size too short.
Incidentally, Ramadhan was celebrated on Saturday, and the church incident happened on Sunday. All four detained claimed they came to Ernakulam to celebrate the Ramadhan weekend. Muslims spent the festival with their families and close relatives at home. Why did they travel 200 km and enter the church?
More importantly, PM Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Kochi on Monday. He arrived at 5 pm and landed at INS Garuda Naval Air Station, barely 6 km from this church at Kacheripadi. People of all age groups from various parts of the state lined up on both sides of the road hours in advance to welcome Modi and shower him with flowers.
The local Christian community is visibly moving closer to the BJP, much to the chagrin of the local green communists and especially the radical Islamists. Were these four in Ernakulam to mingle with the Christian fans of Modi?
Recent developments show that local terrorists have moved away from sophisticated suicide attacks. Though Islamist sleeper cells have been activated, they rely more on lone-wolf attacks. This was evident in Coimbatore (LPG car blast), Mangaluru (pressure cooker bomb), and recently at Kozhikode (train arson). Though all of them were caught or died, their handlers were never correctly identified.
So, who are these four, and were they on a suicide mission? Kerala police had the Kozhikode train arson terrorist in their custody for two weeks. They allegedly faced pressure from their political masters and never followed up on the terrorist’s paymasters. To expect them to inquire into these four is foolish.
In this age of lone-wolf terrorism, our central agencies should ideally investigate the matter and bring out the truth. If left to local authorities, these four suspicious characters will join the thousands of sleeper cell terrorists living openly in Kerala. One certainly hopes the National Investigation Agency will look into the matter.
