The Madurai police have arrested a Christian priest, George Ponnaiah, for making “derogatory remarks” against Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Several complaints have already been filed against him, accusing him of trying to incite communal tensions. Police said George Ponnaiah was taken into custody on Saturday morning following a tip-off that he was trying to flee the country. The Madurai Police has handed him over to the police in Nagercoil.
During one of his public addresses, George Ponnaiah had mocked Mahatma Gandhi for not wearing footwear out of respect for Mother Earth (Bhumadevi/Bharat Mata). “But we wear shoes. Why? Because the impurities of Bharat Mata should not contaminate us. The Tamil Nadu government has given us free footwear. This bhumadevi is dangerous, you could catch scabies from it,” the pastor brazened it out.
He also said, “The last days of Modi are going to be pathetic. I give it in writing. If the God we worship is a true living God the history should see Modi and Amit Shah being eaten by dogs and worms.” Reminding Hindus of the demographic shift in Tamil Nadu he had warned, “We are now the majority (in the Kanyakumari district) from 42 per cent we have crossed 62 per cent. Soon we would be 70 per cent. You cannot stop us. I am saying this as a warning to my Hindu brothers.”
