An ongoing mysterious series of desecration of many Holy crosses and some Hindu symbols of worship has not only caught the Goa Police on the wrong foot, but has also put the ruling BJP-led coalition in a piquant position.
With over 30 crosses, gravestones, a Tulsi vrindavan and an idol of Shiva’s carriage, Nandi, damaged over the last few weeks, alarmed Catholic MlAs of the BJP have joined the chorus created by the Congress for a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation into the desecration.
On Thursday morning, the idyllic village of loutolim woke up to a rude shock, when two Catholic crosses, one of the many thousand which line Goan roads, were desecrated.
“I was on a morning walk, when I saw that the cross at Rasaim was vandalised. The ceramic cross looks like it has been smashed by a heavy object,” Peter Fernandes, a resident of loutolim told The Pioneer.
Deputy Inspector General of police Rupinder Kumar has confirmed the vandalisation. “Two crosses in loutolim have been damaged. Police teams are on the spot,” Kumar said.
The latest desecration on Thursday, comes on the heels of series of similar events, including a mass desecration at the Guardian Angel Catholic cemetery located in the Curchorem Assembly constituency in South Goa, where more than a dozen crosses were broken, along with other gravestones and plaques.
Police have so far have not managed to crack a single case in the desecration series, which started more than a month back, something which has infuriated BJP MlA Nilesh Cabral.
“The local police team should be changed, or the case should be given to other agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation. If those behind the desecration are not caught before the end of the monsoon session, I will stage a dharna with my supporters at the Curchorem police station,” Cabral told The Pioneer. The three-week monsoon session of the Goa legislative Assembly begins on March 18. Deputy Speaker and also a BJP MlA Michael lobo also has demanded a CBI probe into the desecrations.
“It is important that the culprits be arrested, because they are trying to create divisions in the Catholic and Hindu communities of Goa who have been living in harmony in the state,” lobo said.
The mass desecration, majority of which involve Catholic icons and properties, is making life relatively uneasy for the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, whose 12-member legislative party comprises of seven Catholic MlAs.
A senior party leader said that the criminal investigation into the desecrations having come a cropper, there was a need to send a positive signal to the Catholic community, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the state’s 1.5 million population.
“Finally our Catholic MlAs have to answer to their supporters, because most of the desecrations have damaged crosses and other icons like graves, grave-stones, etc. The party has urged the government to speed up investigation or hand the case to the CBI in order to instill confidence in our minority MlAs and our Catholic voters,” a senior BJP leader told The Pioneer on condition of anonymity.
The decision, the senior leader said, would be taken after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar returns from his US tour.
Before heading for the US last week on a personal visit, Parrikar had said that through the series of desecrations, attempts were being made to divide Goan society on communal lines.