Click to play videoAluva/Thiruvananthapuram: In Kerala, two factions of an ancient church are locked in a fresh battle to control a historic seminary. One group forcefully offered prayers in the church on Friday, sparking tension.
God's Own Country Kerala is seeing protests by the two factions, which has led to a bitter power struggle. It is dividing a community which traces its roots to the first Christian to set foot in India.
The Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Syrian Malankara Church are fighting to control the Thrikunnath seminary at Aluva in central Kerala.
On Friday, a group of Jacobites led by their Bishop marched in and offered prayers, inviting a howl of protest from the Orthodox group
"The court has given certain decision concerning this seminary and we are abiding by that decision," Mathews Mar Gregorious of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church says.
The district administration has clamped prohibitory orders near the disputed Church in keeping with the Supreme Court decision to maintain status quo. There are calls for peace now.
"Mediation is the only way to end the tussle either by the government or some one else. We are ready for that," Mar Basolious Thomas 1st of the Catholic Bava says.
But fears are being expressed that the tension could spread.
(With inputs from R Reghuraj and Naveen Nair)
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