Hardcore Hindus have protested against a planned statue of Jesus Christ that was to be set up in the state of Karnataka in India. According to sources, the size of the statue will rival Rio de Janeiro’s Christ The Redeemer in size.
The Hindus who protested against the set up of the statue of Jesus Christ have been found to have links with ruling BJP party. The protests were taken out in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district. The rally was led by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The members of the party were seen holding saffron flags and about one thousand policemen stood to watch them.
Most of you know that the RSS is the parent organisation of the now ruling party BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). BJP governs Karnataka and other Hindu groups which are collectively called the Sangh Parivar or better known as RSS family.
A top RSS member named Prabhakar Bhat told the Indian media on why his party protested against the building of the statue of Christ. He said that the building of the statue goes against the spirit of communal harmony. Christian missionaries always have rampantly carried on converting people to Christianity. And with this statue, this will further encourage such religious conversions of the common people.
Javed Akhtar took to Twitter to express his opinion on the issue. He said that while the ruling party mentions that they will give citizenship to the religiously persecuted Christians from neighboring countries, they are against the statue of Jesus Christ.
 After the rise of objections from different spheres, the building of the statue stopped. The building began just last month. The statue would have been constructed from white granite and will be of 34.7 meters height (114 feet).
Although there is no Hindu temple present in the Christian dominated village of Harobele, many Hindus claim that the hill where the statue will be constructed is the home of a Hindu deity. Now the BJP run state government is also accusing the main Opposition party Congress of illegally allotting this land for the construction of the Jesus Christ statue.
PM Narendra Modi’s BJP wants India to reshape as a Hindu nation. The party however refuses such allegations. The party has been time and again proving its intolerance towards other religions. After Modi came to power in 2014, there is a rise in crimes in religious minorities in India.
It remains to be seen whether the building of this statue will finally happen in Karnataka.
By Priyanka Dutta
