The top court in southern Indian Kerala state has asked its communist-led government to remove illegal religious structures on public land. The Kerala High Court’s order “will have a widespread implication if implemented in letter and spirit,” said a Church leader who did not want to be named. He told that the forceful removal of illegal religious structures might lead to opposition. Encroachment on government land is prohibited under the Kerala Land Conservation Act. However, religious structures, including Christian crosses, can be seen across public lands in Kerala. “Nowadays, it is a trend to erect stones or crosses in public places and thereafter to start worshipping these stones and crosses with religious col-or,” said Justice P V Kunhikrishnan of the Kerala High Court. People need not encroach upon government land “to construct religious structures,” Justice Kunhikrishnan told the Kerala government, led by the Communist Party of India, in his May 27 order. Justice Kunhikrishnan has directed the state government to set a deadline for executing the order to re-move illegal structures from public land.