VIJAYAWADA: Accusing the Opposition of not even sparing temples and God to gain political mileage, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy appealed to the people to think who stands to benefit by vandalising temples.
Addressing the AP Police Duty Meet and IGNITE symposiums which got underway in Tirupati on Monday through video conference, the Chief Minister alleged the Opposition was conspiring to divert public attention from a plethora of welfare initiatives of the state government and not hesitating to create communal disharmony and disturbance.
“This is political guerrilla warfare by the opposition and we need to tackle the situation,” he said while advising police higher officials to focus on these issues during the deliberations at the symposiums organised as part of IGNITE programme.
The Chief Minister further pointed out that attacks on temples and acts of vandalism are being carried in remote locations and isolated places. “The government like never before has installed CCTV cameras in 20,000 temples. The temples, where the acts of vandalism were carried out, are not under the endowments department,” he said and pointed out that most of them are under the management of TDP leaders.
He said attacks on temples coincided with the launch of government welfare programmes and this appears to be a strategy to divert public attention from them. Such attacks on temples are being given wide publicity in social media and a section of media favourable to the opposition, he added.
Expressing dismay over some people using God for politics, without any fear and resorting to vandalising idols for creating communal disturbance for their political ends, the Chief Minister wondered if these people are humans. “Who will benefit from vandalizing idols in temples? Who will benefit from creating rifts between communities and castes? Who will benefit from such false propaganda targeting religious sentiments? Who is being targeted by these forces? People should observe and understand,” he said.
To buttress his claims, he cited nine instances where the launch of government welfare programmes was preceded or followed immediately by acts of vandalism of temples and false propaganda on social media.
According to him, the first such incident happened on November 14, 2019 when Manabadi - Nadu Nedu was launched in Ongole. Social media went abuzz with reports that a Durga temple was demolished in Guntur, which later proved to be false. On January 15, the government launched Price Stabilization Fund to benefit farmers and on January 21, vandalisation of 23 idols in Anjaneya Swamy temple in Pithapuram was reported.
On February 8, the first Disha police station was opened to reaffirm the stance of the government and its commitment to prevent crime against women. The following week, idols in Venugopalaswamy temple in Rompicherla were vandalised, Surayabhupala Ammavari temple entrance was damaged, temple chariot in Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy temple in Nellore district was set ablaze.
A day before the launch of YSR Sampoorna Poshana on September 6, Antarvedi Temple chariot was burnt and two days before launch of YSR Aasara programme on September 11, silver lions of Goddess Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada were stolen.
An idol in Lord Anjaneya Swamy temple at Naidupet in Nellore district was vandalised on September 25, three days before the launch of YSR Jala Kala and on October 5, three days before launch of Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Sesha Pagada of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Mantralayam mandal of Kurnool district was damaged. Similarly attacks on Veerabhadra Swamy were carried out around the time 56 BC Corporation Chairmans were appointed on October 16.
When the housing sites for poor programme was launched, a propaganda that a cross symbol was found on the Tirumala temple was taken up on social media and after launching house sites programme in Vizianagaram, Ramatheertham temple was vandalised, and later, Subrahmanyeswara Swamy idol in Rajamahendravaram was vandalised.
“Today, police have to upgrade and equip themselves to rise up to the challenges posed by such incidents. Using Police Duty Meet and programmes like IGNITE, they should improve their efficiency to effectively deal with crime including cyber crime and white collar crime,” he said and added hereafter Police Duty Meeting will be a regular feature every year unlike under the previous government.
The Chief Minister reiterated that unlike the previous government, which shamelessly ordered the police department to ignore the wrongs of ruling party members, the YSRC government has asked the police not to spare anyone who resorted to crimes, irrespective of party, cadre, status and community. Earlier, Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita and DGP Gautam Sawang also spoke.