The government appointed expert committee to investigate and identify temples purportedly destroyed by the Portuguese has been given an extension till December 31 after it failed to submit its report on the said subject by the previous deadline of February 2023. The Minister for Archives and Archeology has himself admitted that there is no data available since 1961 about any temples being razed; what new information shall emerge by December 2023 which hasn't emerged till now ? A great game is afoot by the Sanghis to spread communal poison and reap electoral dividends in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. I am very sure that by the end of 2023 some concocted cock and bull report shall be circulated that 'X' number of shrines have been reduced to rubble by the Portuguese and that this is cultural imperialism / 'Hindu khatrey mein hai' and other such assorted nonsense. The BJP government's drumbeaters and the media shall tom tom it and say that it shall 'rebuild' these to restore Hindu asmita ...voila, you have the Hindu vote bank sewed up in your favour. It is interesting to note that the 'committee' will also consider folk lore and other oral sources of history as 'evidence' of temples being destroyed. Tomorrow I can wake up and depose before the committee that there was a temple in my backyard which was destroyed, this shall be latched on to by the members as the gospel truth. Folks, don't play into the hands of the saffron brigade; wake up before we lose our beautiful state to toxic bigots, they have done enough damage as it is.
