Man jumps into Kerala zoo's lion enclosure, saved
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 21 (IANS) In a bizarre incident, a 45-year-old man visiting the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo on Wednesday jumped into an open enclosure housing of a lion, but was saved in the knick of time.
According to the police, it was around 11.45 a.m. that Murugan jumped into the enclosure, but another visitor who witnessed the scene raised the alarm.
Zoo workers immediately swung into action. They first tackled the lion, moving the king of the jungle from the open enclosure and into a cage.
A fire-fighting team also quickly pitched in and rescued Murugan, said a police official.
Murugan has been shifted to a state-run hospital where he is undergoing assessment. The police are also trying to find out the reason behind his action.
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RSS mouthpiece Organiser's article claims Catholic Church surpasses Waqf Board in landholdings: Repo
Thiruvananthapuram: An article in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser has stated that the Catholic Church of India holds more land than the Waqf Board, which has long been believed to be the second-largest landowner in the country.
The article, titled "Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate," as cited by The New Indian Express, challenges the commonly held view and asserts that the Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental landholder in India.
"For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second largest landowner in India after the government, however, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country. The Catholic Church of India holds the distinction of being the largest non-governmental landowner, possessing vast tracts of land spread across the country,” the article stated.
The Church is said to own approximately 17.29 crore acres (7 crore hectares) of land, with an estimated value of Rs 20,000 crore.
The article further noted the significant influence of the Catholic Church in India’s real estate landscape, listing scores of schools, hospitals, nursing colleges, and other institutions under its management. “As of 2012, the Catholic Church has 2,457 hospital dispensaries, 240 medical or nursing colleges, 28 general colleges, 5 engineering colleges, 3,765 secondary schools, 7,319 primary schools and 3,187 nursery schools in the field of education and healthcare sector in the country. Much of its land was acquired during British rule. In 1927, the British administration passed the Indian Church Act, facilitating large-scale land grants to the Church," it added.
However, the Organiser article also raised contentious issues, alleging that some of the Church's land acquisitions might have been questionable. It suggested that the Church’s charitable services, particularly in education and healthcare, could be a way of luring economically disadvantaged individuals into converting to Christianity, with some reports claiming that tribal and rural landowners were coerced into converting in exchange for Church-run services.
“Several cases have surfaced where tribal lands, once belonging to indigenous communities, were gradually transferred to Church authorities under various pretexts," the article stated.
This published write-up comes at a time when BJP leaders, particularly in Kerala, are celebrating the passing of the Waqf Amendment Bill, which they have described as a "gift" to the Munambam protesters, who are led by the Catholic Church.
Interestingly, Organiser has deleted the article after it was published.
Article deleted but RSS mouthpiece @eOrganiser forgot to delete the tweet https://t.co/CTjvIwFeor pic.twitter.com/cFIT3can5J
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 5, 2025
