The video of a two-feet Lord Ganesh idol, found partially damaged, at a Ramalayam temple in Yeti Gairampeta village in Golugonda mandal, Visakhapatnam, created a flutter, and added fuel to the ongoing political campaign of Hindu temples being targeted in Andhra Pradesh. The Ganesh idol was found with its two hands broken. However, police have clarified that nobody desecrated the idol.
Speaking to TNM, Golugonda Sub Inspector, Dhanunjay Naidu denied any conspiracy to the incident. “It is a small village temple. The idol of Ganesha with four hands is nearly two decades old. Its hands broke two years ago and it was kept at a different place along with the broken hands in the temple. It was not repaired. The temple priest who is relatively new, did not know this. Only today he spotted the statue with its hands missing, and shared the information to others. Due to the ongoing communal campaign, the village youth who came to know about it shared it to others on WhatsApp, and the news spread like wildfire.” He added that the priest took the two severed hands and arranged them on the floor to record the video. “There is no conspiracy in this incident. The Sarpanch has clarified this in the investigation.”
#BREAKING: Another idol desecrated in #AndhraPradesh! This time, miscreants cut off hands of Lord Ganesh inside a temple in Eti Gairampeta village, Golugonda mandal, #Visakhapatnam dt. CM @ysjagan had recently compared these #templeattacks to political guerrilla warfare. pic.twitter.com/5n2GNUrwIP
— krishnamurthy (@krishna0302) January 6, 2021
The incident led to a heated political drama. In response to the incident, the BJP and the JSP planned a ‘Ramatheertha Dharma Yatra’ and tried to reach the temple in large numbers against police orders. The agitating BJP and JSP leaders were detained and were booked for violating the order.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed officials to step up vigilance against the 'guerrilla warfare' of attacking temples, which disturbs religious harmony in the state.
“Find out who is behind the attacks and how influential they are, do not hesitate to take action against them. Make the names of the perpetrators public and deal with them sternly so that they should fear to commit such offences in future,” Jagan instructed officials during a review meeting held on Tuesday.