On Monday, educational institutions belonging to Catholic managements is planned for a closure in Thiruvananthapuram. Across the state, protests, prayer meetings and closure of educational institutions are being organised as part of a prolonged campaign against Hindu fundamentalist attacks.

Kerala, however, remains free from Hindu fundamentalist attacks, thanks to the strong presence of the Left cadres and sheer size of Christian and Muslim minorities -- 40 per cent of the population. Leaders of most political parties, including BJP, have condemned the attacks.

Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios, chairman of Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, in a statement, said that mere expression of regret was not enough.He urged the Centre to bring to book those behind the well-planned attacks on missionaries who have dedicated their lives for the uplift of the poor and illiterate in farflung villages.

For the highly resourceful and predominantly anti-communist church in Kerala that has for long been a cosy player in the state's electoral power politics with the main aim of safeguarding its institutional interests in the fields like education and health, reports of religious persecution in the North have come as a severe jolt. The developments at the all-India level may well end the bonhomie between the BJP and some of the bishops in the state that was reportedly building up after Vajpayee Government came to power.