Cemetery built by local Church right in front of temple demolished, IMK cadres said to be behind act

The cemetery built right in front of the Manimoortheeswaram Uchishta Ganapathy Temple near Tirunelveli was demolished on the night of October 17 supposedly by cadres belonging to the Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK).

The cemetery had been built by a local Church right in front of the temple spanning around 2 acres.

Locals and temple devotees objected and protested against the coming up of the cemetery since the beginning.

In November 2019, Legal Rights Observatory, an non-profit legal activism organization working towards safeguarding Indian interest had filed a complaint with the Tirunelveli District Collector requesting for the removal of encroachment of Christian cemetery.  Responding to that complaint, the district administration had stated that the Christian cemetery is located on a private land. It added that section 145 has been imposed on the piece of land and burial rituals had been stopped due to the objections raised by the devotees and local people.

#Success Last year LRO had started pursuing matter of #Church encroachment on Gopuram of ancient Manimoortheeswaram Uchishta Ganapathy Temple of Tamilnadu's Tirunelveli. Adminstration responded to @lawinforce that Sec 145 imposed n ban on funeral imposed there. Thanks @arunv2808 https://t.co/7UfFplnqHJ pic.twitter.com/zrSNc0jotv

— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) August 21, 2020

However, burial rituals kept continuing in a portion of the cemetery. Around 50 graves is said to have come up in that portion.

Repeated pleas by the locals and Hindu organizations to Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department and district administration did not seem to have made any progress. On the night of October 17, cadres belonging to the IMK is said to have demolished around 40 of the graves.

Passers-by who saw the damaged cemetery on the morning of October 18 informed the Thachanallur police station. The police then inspected the area and are inquiring into the matter.

Speaking to The Commune, IMK founder leader Arjun Sampath said “We have been asking for the removal of that cemetery for a long time. Our requests and pleas had fell on deaf ears of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE department. They have not even cared to protect the temple of which they are a custodian. Since there was no action despite repeated requests, our cadres took the matter into the hands. The persons responsible would be surrendering soon.”