Thaindian News

Panaji, Nov 17 (IANS) With less than 10 days to go for the assembly by-election to the lone seat in Pale, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Goa Manohar Parrikar Monday warned the Congress against “pushing Hindus in Goa to the brink” by its “lack of seriousness” in pursuing the desecration of temples in the state. He was addressing a press conference hours after unknown miscreants vandalized a Shiva temple right in the heart of state capital Panaji in the early hours of Monday.

Parrikar, Leader of Opposition in the state and BJP MLA from Panaji, warned that neglect by the government machinery in tackling the sensitive crime could have ominous implications.

“This could lead to religious upheaval and could burst into a spontaneous outburst of anger by the people,” Parrikar said, hinting at a possible backlash. “If things go on like this, there could come a time when people may shoot Congress leaders,” he cautioned.

Responding to claims by the state police that some people involved in similar desecrations in the past have been known to be of “unsound” mind, Parrikar claimed that these were only excuses for inefficiency. “Why would mentally ‘unsound’ people go about desecrating only religious structures? These are stories cooked up by the police,” Parrikar said, adding that it wasn’t just temples, but churches too which had been vandalized in the recent past.

“There is a central design behind these disgraceful acts,” claimed Parrikar, who has in the past directly accused the Indian Mujahideen for the systematic desecration of idols, temples and shrines in Goa.

The state government had formed a special team to probe the matter and announced a reward of Rs.100,000 for anyone who could provide information to help crack the case. Nearly half a dozen more desecrations have occurred even after the formation of the Special Investigation Team nearly a month ago.