“If we put aside the Bible for a moment, we will massacre you. Don’t bother us, we are not good people. We are fools. Don’t mess with us. You bastard! If we do something wrong, think about where you will be. We have warring groups with us, we will do anything.”
These are the recent comments made by YSRCP leader and state vice-president of the Christian minority wing of the party, John Benny Lingam, to incite religious hatred and clashes in the state in response to the death of Pastor Praveen Pagadala.
Benny Lingam reached the Rajamahendravaram Government Hospital while the postmortem of Praveen’s body was being conducted and spoke in a way that incited hatred. Although the police clearly stated that they were investigating the death from all angles, John Benny Lingam, who declared it a murder, gave a speech that incited and agitated the crowd gathered there.
Although the Christian religious leaders, pastors, and fathers present there were very calm and peaceful that day, Benny Lingam spoke in a hateful manner. He encouraged the people who had gathered there to commit violence. Considering his background and the hateful speech he made that day, the police are suspecting that there may be a conspiracy by the YSRCP behind this.
Benny Lingam, who hails from Nehru Nagar in Gudlavalleru, Krishna district, is reportedly very close to YSRCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy and his wife Bharathi Reddy. He is a close follower of former minister and YSRCP leader Kodali Nani. When the TDP was in the opposition, he used to incite Christians against that party.
Since the formation of the coalition government, they have been inciting religious hatred and attributing it to the government. He has been making inappropriate comments against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Home Minister Anitha and many others. This becomes clear if you look at his personal accounts on various social media.
John Benny Lingam, who claims to be the founding national president of the Association of Integrated Christian Council (AICC), is a YSRCP activist. He participated in the campaign on behalf of YSRCP candidates in many constituencies in the 2024 elections.
He participated in meetings called ‘Spiritual Gatherings of Divine Servants’ and asked all Christians to support Jaganmohan Reddy. Jaganmohan Reddy participated in the election campaign in Pulivendula along with his wife Y.S. Bharathi Reddy.
