Kerala minister in trouble over alleged remarks on Christ

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

A liquor controversy is brewing in the south Indian state of Kerala. And state Excise Minister T Sivadasa Menon finds himself smack in the middle of the ruckus.

Did he, or did he not, use Jesus Christ's name while defending his government's liberalised liquor policy at a public function in Kochi last Tuesday?

Menon swears to god he didn't. But the Christian Church doesn't believe him.

The matter was originally reported in the widely-circulated Malayala Manorama newspaper which quoted a Christian priest who shared the dais with the minister in Kochi, as saying that Menon spoke about Christ drinking wine regularly. The next day, the newspaper published Menon's denial prominently, with a footnote saying that the matter was closed.

The Church, however, isn't ready to let it go. And has initiated an inquiry into the incident.

Thalasserry Archbishop Dr George Valiamattom accuses both Menon and the newspaper of trying to hush up the matter. ''This is too serious a matter to cover up," the archbishop says, ''Christ is God for more than half the people on earth. So it was unbecoming of a minister to drag His name into a controversy."

Meanwhile, M A Thomas, an independent member of the state legislative assembly who attended the function, says the minister did not make any controversial statements -- all Menon said was that wine is not a bad thing and it was kept in the altar of churches. Opposition member George Eapen supports this. "If he had made such a remark, being a Christian myself I would have taken him to task," he says.

Several others who attended the function say they remember the minister use the names of Christ and Karl Marx freely, but cannot recall hearing him say anything demeaning about Christ.