Archbishop Thanks CM, Asks to Appoint 'Interested' Christians to CMDC
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Dec 5: Archbishop of Bangalore Dr Bernard Moras, who returned from Rome on Sunday after attending a conference in Vatican, has thanked the Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda for the State Government’s decision of withdrawing all the cases clamped against the innocent Christian youth in connection with the attacks against Churches in 2008 in different parts of Karnataka, including Mangalore.
''Though it is late, the Government has done justice to the innocent victims of the attacks on the churches and the worshippers after the harrowing treatment,” the Archbishop said in a press release issued on Monday.
The Archbishop, who is also the President of Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council (KRCBC) and the Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights (KUCFHR), has expressed his thanks to all the Bishops, priests, religious and all people and organizations who had worked incessantly for the withdrawal of the cases and said ''Our collective effort finally has yielded result.”
Referring to the media reports regarding the State Government’s decision regarding appointment of the members of the Christian Minority Development Council (CMDC), the Archbishop has urged the Chief Minister to reconsider the appointment of members and include the names suggested by the Christian Community.
''The CMDC is established in the interest of the Christian community and the members who are interested with the community need to be there in the decision making process,” the Archbishop said pointing out that the Christian community felt ''let down” that its leaders were ''simply sidelined by this decision of the Government. We urge the Government to re-consider this decision of appointing members and include the names suggested by the Christian Community.”
Archbishop Moras pointed out that the Minority Affairs Minister Dr Mumtaz Ali Khan had personally requested him to furnish names of leaders from the community for appointment as members to the CMDC. The Chief Minister had also reiterated the demand and accordingly names of Christian community leaders were sent to the Government. But the Government had not considered any of the names and packed the CMDC with its own nominees, he said.
The Archbishop reiterated the demands of the entire Church in Karnataka for rejection of the Justice B K Somashekara Commission’s report, payment of adequate compensation to all the victims and churches or places of worship, even though monetary compensation cannot meet the ends of justice and entrust the investigation of the church attacks of 2008 to a central investigating agency like the CBI to bring out the truth and punish the culprits to instill confidence among the minority community about the Government’s ''sincerity, impartiality and secular credentials.”|
The Chairmanship of the Minority Commission must be rotated among all minority communities and the Christian community must be given adequate representation in all the boards and corporations based in accordance with their population, the Archbishop demanded.
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