Jayalalithaa, who had often taken pride in being an alumnus of convent schools, had encountered tensions with sections of the Christian community on at least two occasions during her first term as Chief Minister (1991-96) of Tamil Nadu.
The first occurred during her visit to the San Thome Basilica in Madras (now Chennai) on the Christmas day of 1994. The second, exactly two months later, transpired when a functionary of her party, out of his “desperation to demonstrate loyalty” to the leader, got hoardings and posters put up in the State capital, depicting the Chief Minister as Virgin Mary, on the eve of her birthday in February 1995.
The idea of Jayalalithaa’s (then spelt Jayalalitha) visit to the basilica came up at the end of a meeting she had with the Madras-Mylapore Archbishop, Rev. Arul Das James, in early December at her Poes Garden residence, according to A.X. Alexander, former Director-General of Police (DGP), who was then the Inspector-General of Police (Intelligence). As the authorities did not want to disturb devotees who would visit the church on the night of December 24 and the early hours of Christmas, the Chief Minister herself suggested to Mr. Alexander to have the visit scheduled for 11 a.m. on December 25. “The Archbishop had invited only important Christians of the city, including those who represented educational institutions. The church was full,” recalls Mr. Alexander.
