A video alleging that the Andhra Pradesh government has demolished a temple in Mypadu village in Nellore district’s Indurukupeta mandal has been shared widely online.

news Crime Monday, December 19, 2022 - 17:05
Balakrishna Ganeshan

A video alleging that the Andhra Pradesh government under Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy demolished a temple in Nellore has gone viral. The alleged incident took place in Mypadu village in Nellore district’s Indurukupeta mandal. Attacking CM Jagan based on his religious identity, the video was being shared with the caption, “In Andhra Pradesh, Christian Jesus Reddy governance is prevailing. They are demolishing Hindu temples.” However, the police clarified that there was no such demolition.

Speaking to TNM, Nellore Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao said, “The contents of the video are extremely malicious. There was no temple demolition. A wall belonging to the temple was removed as part of an anti-encroachment drive. The Nellore Municipality has taken up the task of removing encroachments along 1.5 km of a road in Nellore town. The demolished part was an extension of the temple.”

The SP said that the Nellore Municipal Commissioner has already assured the temple authorities that the municipality will rebuild the structure, after protests by right-wing groups like the Vishva Hindu Parishad. The protesting group had called off their agitation after the promise from the Municipal authorities.

The SP further clarified that the incident took place two weeks ago. “Nellore is very peaceful, there is no disturbance to the law and order,” he said.

This is not the first such incident where an incident with misleading claims was communalised and Jagan’s Christian identity brought under scrutiny. The Opposition parties – the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – accuse Jagan of encouraging Christian conversions and “threatening the existence of Hindus”. Last year, Andhra Pradesh BJP general secretary S Vishnuvardhan Reddy alleged that a Christian cross was being built on a hillock near a Hindu religious place in Edlapadu, Guntur. The police later clarified that the allegations of encroachment were false.

The BJP and TDP allege that temples in the state are facing threat of desecration under the Jagan government. Many incidents of temples being vandalised have been reported since Jagan came to power in 2019. However, the police claimed that BJP and TDP cadres were behind many of the attacks on temples and arrested them.

Opposition leader and former CM N Chandrababu Naidu had also called Jagan a “Christian Chief Minister”, implying that Jagan was disregarding Hindus.

 
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