State secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Kanam Rajendran, also defended the action taken by the revenue department and told a Left Democratic Front (LDF) meeting here yesterday that a notice as per law was served to the group which installed the religious symbol and it was after the group refused to remove it that the department was forced to take action.
E Chandrasekharan, who handles the revenue department, belongs to the CPI - the second biggest constituent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The meeting also saw former chief minister V S Achuthanandan supporting the revenue department’s action by saying that none should be allowed to violate the law of the land.
At the end of the meeting, the party decided to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the vexed issue of land encroachment and chalk out measures to address the menace. Located on a hill top, the cross, which was installed by the ‘Spirit in Jesus’ church, was pulled down early Thursday morning by revenue authorities using heavy equipment amid tight police security.
Cardinal Mar George Alencherry condemned the revenue department’s action. “We will never support the usurping of any land by anyone. However, what we opposed is the manner in which it was pulled down and we have expressed our reservation on this to the chief minister,” said Alencherry, the supreme head of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala.
“There was a disrespect shown and that pained us,” said Archbishop M Susaipakiam, the head of the Latin Church, here.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) also held a meeting here yesterday and criticised the manner in which the cross was removed.
“No one is going to believe the chief minister who is also the home minister was not aware that the ‘cross’ would be removed. If it was placed on usurped land, it could have been removed in a more decent manner,” said UDF convenor P P Thankachan.
State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan told reporters in Delhi that Vijayan appears to be supporting the encroachments and one needs to probe if the chief minister had links with the ‘Spirit in Jesus’ group.
He said they have already apprised the Union Minister of Environment, Anil Madhav Dave, of the widespread land encroachment in Munnar.
Dave told reporters in Delhi that even though the land is a state subject, the environment was not and after a proper probe into the complaints have been raised, action would be taken if the law was not being followed.