- By TS Venkatesan
The two incidents on demolition of a Church and taking back the possession of encroached Christian school made possible with the court intervention. In the first case, church built on Raghavan Canal at Parugampattu near Thiruvennainallur in Villupuram district was finally razed down on 16th despite stiff opposition from Christian community who thronged the area in large numbers and occupied the entire building that was to be pulled down by bulldozers.
Exactly 21 days ago, authorities face resistance from the local Christians in removing the church structure, Hindu Munnani accused the Tamil Nadu government of applying different standards to religious structures. It said DMK government has a history of demolishing Hindu temples- some say over 250 after it came to power in 2021 , claiming that they were built on public land. However, these officials are reluctant to act against an illegal church built on a canal and illegal mosques in the light of courts. Supreme Court y affirmed a Madras High Court directive ordering the demolition of Chennai’s famous mosque in Koyambedu, deeming the structure “completely illegally constructed” in the case of Masjid-e-Hidayah and Madarassa vs N Dinakaran. In fact a large number of government buildings were built on Hindu Temple lands.
In the case on hand is pertains to Villupuram, on August 18th local Christian community had staged protests at the district collector’s office, demanding that the church not be demolished. This protest resulted in delays from the Villupuram district administration in addressing the issue.
The situation has sparked criticism, especially in light of the Tamil Nadu government’s earlier actions to demolish Hindu temples located in public spaces under the guise of enforcing regulations. However, there seems to be a reluctance to apply the same standards to Christian churches. This disparity has raised questions about fairness and consistency in the government’s approach.
Hindu Munnani has questioned the government’s double standards in dealing with encroachments. It said “The Tamil Nadu government, which demolished Hindu temples in many places claiming they were in government land, refuses to dispose of the Church now. Why is the government refusing to demolish the church illegally built on a canal?” The HC has in an order in August ordered the district administration to pull down illegal structure that was built on a water body and submit a report following a petition from a resident of the village.
On Monday (16th September) police, fire and rescue, revenue authorities came to carry out the court orders armed with giant bulldozers, again the local Christians tried to prevent them from razing down the illegal church. The officials told them in plain language that the HC has ordered demolition of the church as it was built on water canal and the 21days time given to them was over. The dissatisfied and angered Christian locals blocked the road lead to the church and offered mass prayers to prevent officials from demolishing. A heavy posse of police detained them and released the after the demolition drive in the evening.
In another action, the government armed with court orders reclaimed the leased 5 acres and encroached 20 acres of land from St. John’s Educational Trust in Pazhanjure near Chennai. According to media reports, the St. John’s International Residency School , affiliated to CBSE pattern in Poonamallee, had originally got 5 acres of land ( survey no. 371/1) on lease in 1993 for a period of 20 years. The lease had expired in 2013. The school had 630 students and over 60 teaching plus a dozen of non teaching staff. After the expiry the lease period, the school refused to vacate and handover possession of the land in question. The district collector issued a lease cancellation notice which was contested in the High Court by the school management. After the pandemic days, the school ceased its activities at the Poonamallee site and students were transferred to another school in Thiruvallur district.
When the Commissionerate of Land Adminstration (CLA) surveyed the site, they found the school had taken over 20 acres of government land illegally in addition to the five acres of leased land. The land, according data, is classified as Anadheenam ( not occupied – a government poramboke land. They had built hostel, swimming pools, staff quarters, office, schools and other structures. The inspection also revealed the trust had built structures on the entire 25 acres of land and a case of pending lease amount of nearly Rs 22crore. Following this, CLA in June 3rd last issued a notice to the trust asking them to hand over the entire 25 acres of land worth several crores ( some nearly Rs.500 crores). Acting on the orders, the revenue, police department officials on 16th September took possession of the land. Poonamallee Tehasildar led team has sealed the buildings in Pazhanjur village.
The government plans to use the entire building and other structures like class rooms after repairs and renovation to run a model school or a hospital instead of demolition that needs high cost. The buildings have been lying unoccupied since 2021.
