Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady
Beltangady, Aug 10: In the wake of protests against anonymous letters targetting Christian priests and women, Samanvaya Samiti, Madanthyar here has refuted the allegations that it had released articles against Christianity in its trimonthly publications, and clarified it had nothing to do with the letters.
File photo of protest
A media release by J R D'Souza, director and president of Samanvaya Samiti and other directors stated, "The protest meeting organized on August 3 under the leadership of the parish council of Sacred Heart Church, Madanthyar in the heart of Madanthyar town is silly and baseless. Though the protest was organized against anonymous letters, it targetted the Samanvaya Co-operative Bank which has nothing to do with this."
Explaining the functioning of the bank, the release stated, "Samanvaya Co-operative Bank (Ltd) serves the interests of the minorities - Muslims, Jains, Christians etc. It is registered with the government (Reg No 33595/20.04.2004). All the accounts of the said Bank are audited by the registered auditors. It has received ‘A’ grade from the government. Transparency has been maintained in the functioning of the Bank. The Bank has declared 20% dividend to its shareholders consecutively for the past 4 years. It has scaled a new high with its growth and popularity. The Samanvaya Samithi is doing a lot of service to the society with its different projects like Samanvaya Co-operative Bank, Samanvaya ambulance service, Samanvaya tailoring class, Samanvaya marriage bureau, Samanvaya education fund, Samanvaya drug bureau, Samanvaya Bhojana Yojane, Samanvaya Trimonthly Bulletin, Samanvaya Moorje branch, and Samanvaya health project.
"But the people who are unable to stomach the progress of the Bank are bent on decimating the institution by launching a false propaganda against its functioning and the officials. It is sad and unfortunate that the innocent parishioners of Sacred Heart Church have been used as pawns in the dirty game of character assassination. The demeaning tactics adopted for the purpose are condemnable.
"The pious believers who congregated for the religious service at the church were incited through a misinformation campaign to put out slanderous banners against Samanvaya Co-op Bank. A protest march was carried out from the church to the venue of protest - a makeshift stage was prepared near the bus shelter in front of Nuthan Cloth Centre. The gullible protesters carried the effigies of John Prabhu, the CEO of the Bank and Jerald Correa, the vice president of the Service Co-op Society and panchayath member. The effigies along with the publications of the Samiti were burnt at the venue of the protest. We condemn this," the release stated.
"The protestors were addressed in the most provocative manner by Joel Mendonca, the office-bearer of BJP Minority Morcha, Gregory Sera, vice-president of the parish council of Sacred Heart Church, its secretary Ronald Sequeira and Vivek Vincent Pais. These self-proclaimed leaders of some splinter groups levelled flimsy and unsubstantiable allegations against the top brass of the aforesaid Bank and Jerald Correa, donor and social worker," stated the release.
"At this juncture we have to reason whether there is adequate ground - moral or otherwise- to the protest launched. The protest appears to be a reaction to an anonymous letter containing allegations against parish priest Fr Lawrence Mascarenhas and Gregory Sera. It is strange that the unrelated incident has been used to destroy a useful institution. The unsavoury development is going to create fissiparous tendencies.
"The protest is going to create divisive forces in the society. The dangerous trend has to be arrested for harmony in society. We sympathise with the people affected by the contents of the anonymous letter. Our Bank and its management has nothing to do with that letter. We are prepared to swear by the truth at any designated place any time. We urge all the learned and sober members of the society to identify the miscreants and initiate measures to restore peace trust and happiness among all the cross sections," stated the release.