Govt. lackadaisical in handling temple attacks, alleges Pawan Kalyan

‘Loose talk by a few Ministers has hurt the religious sentiments of people more’

Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan has said that secularism is skewed in the country as it is not taking into account the sentiments of all faiths.

Lashing out at the YSRCP government in the State for the 142 incidents of temple attacks and desecration of idols, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said the government’s approach towards the sensitive issue smacked of indifference.

“The government is unmoved when 142 incidents happened right under its nose. Will it react the same way if places of worship of other faiths are attacked?” he questioned.

Mr. Pawan Kalyan was addressing the media here on Friday on conclusion of the party’s two-day Political Affairs Committee meeting.

Such sacrilegious act against a church or a mosque would have had global ramifications, Mr. Pawan Kalyan observed, and added that the JSP believed in true secularism and, hence, would question the government for its “callousness on the spate of attacks on Hindu temples.”

Pastor’s comments

Alleging that the government lacked seriousness in handling a sensitive and emotive issue, Mr. Pawan Kalyan wondered how could the State remain silent when a pastor, Praveen Chakravarthy, purportedly claimed in a social media post to have desecrated idols.

“Indifference breeds such anti-social elements. What message does this send to the people?” he asked.

“The JSP is not pointing an accusing finger at the ruling party for the attacks but is questioning its lackadaisical attitude in nabbing the culprits,” he said.

Mr. Pawan Kalyan also took objection to the “loose talk” of a few Ministers, which actually downplayed the incident and ended up hurting the religious sentiments of the people.

Shadow committees

Slamming the Endowments Department for “failing” to safeguard temple properties, the JSP president announced to constitute ‘shadow committees’ to oversee the functioning of the trust boards of 12 major temples in the State.

Stating that those on board the State-appointed bodies lacked devotion and were “preying on” temple properties, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said the shadow committees to be led by PAC member and former TTD Board member Pasupuleti Hariprasad would unearth instances of corruption and diversion of temple funds.

‘Reign of terror’

Mr. Pawan Kalyan also accused the YSRCP government of unleashing a reign of terror by harassing the opposition parties, the media and the people merely for raising voice of dissent.

“Physical attack on party workers, fake cases on Opposition leaders, coercive measures on media houses, issue of non-bailable warrants for social media posts and the slanderous talk by legislators reflect the feudal attitude of the government,” Mr. Pawan Kalyan said, and added that the Jana Sainiks would not be cowed by such acts.