18 Bishops, Including Archbishop, to Stage Dharna on Feb 18

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Feb 17: Voicing the entire Christian community’s resentment and total rejection of the one-sided report of the Justice B K Somashekara Commission, which probed the series of Church attacks in September 2008 in different districts of Karnataka and recently submitted its final report to the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP regime giving a clean chit to the government, ruling BJP and all Sangh Parivar outfits, as many as 18 Catholic and Christian Bishops, including Bangalore Archbishop Bernard Moras, will be staging a token dharna at St Mark’s Cathedral campus off the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Bangalore on Friday, February 18 morning.

All the Bishops, who will be offering a short prayer at a special erected dais in the St Mark’s Cathedral campus facing the Gandhi statue on Banglaore’s busy M G Road and sitting on a silent Dharna on February 18, Friday, from 11 am to 11.30 am to express the entire Christian community’s anguish and protest against the totally biased, one-sided, propagandist and even communal report.

The Bishops, who will be staging the silent protest dharna under the banner of Karnataka United Christian Forum of Human Rights headed by the Archbishop and representing the Catholic and all other Christian denominations, will be later meeting the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and also the State Governor H R Bhardwaj and submit joint memoranda.

In addition to staging the silent dharna by the Christian Church leaders and submission of the memoranda to the Chief Minister and the Governor, the Christian community of the Bangalore Archdiocese and other surrounding districts will be observing a mammoth protest rally and prayer meeting with candlelight vigil at St Francis Xavier Cathedral grounds, Coles Park Road, on Monday, February 21 from 4 to 7.30 pm.

The Bishops, who will be participating in the dharna, which is perhaps the first of its kind with as many as 18 Bishops belonging to Catholic and other denominations of Christian faith, are: Archbishop Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras, Most Rev Dr Vasantha Kumar, Bishop of CSI Central Dioceses and Moderator of of CSI Churches, Most Rev Dr Taranath S Sagar, Bishop of Methodist Church, Most Rev Dr Samuel Mathew, Bishop of Believers Church, Most Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore, Most Rev Dr Lawrence Mukkuzhy, Bishop of Belthangady, Most Rev Dr J Prabhakara Rao, Bishop of CSI Church, Dharwad, Most Rev Dr Josesph Arumachadath, Bishop of Bhadravathi, Most Rev Dr Gerlad Isaac Lobo, Bishop of Shimoga, Most Rev Dr Thomas Vazhapilly, Bishop of Mysore, Most Rev Dr John S Sadananda, Bishop of Karnataka Southern Dioceses, Most Rev Dr Henry D’Souza, Bishop of Bellary, Most Rev Dr Derick Fernandes, Bishop of Karwar, Most Rev Dr Peter Machado, Bishop of Belgaum, Most Rev Dr Thomasappa Anthonyswamy, Bishop of Chikmagalur, Most Rev Dr Robert Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga, Most Rev Dr Geevarghese Mar Dionasius, Bishop of Puttur, Most Rev Dr George Njaralakkatt, Bishop of Mandya and Rev V N Samuel, President FCCO.

The Archbishop, who announced the details of the dharna and other protest plans at a news conference in the St Mark’s Cathedral hall on Thursday, expressed the anguish and total rejection of the Justice Somashekara Commission’s report. ``The report is yet to be officially published. It has just been submitted to the Government. But from the highlights of the report, released by the Commission itself, it is evident that it is totally one-sided, biased and propagandist,” the Archbishop said.

He pointed out that the Catholic Church and leaders of all Christian denominations had their own reservations and misgivings when the Yeddyurappa regime appointed the Justice Somashekara Commission. ``We had been demanding a CBI inquiry to bring the truth and to ensure that all the culprits are dealt with as per law. However, we cooperated setting aside our reservations. The interim report submitted last year gave us a ray of hope when the Commission named Bajrang Dal, Sree Rama Sene, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Sangh Parivar outfits. But now in the final report submitted last month, the Commission has exonerated everybody,” he said pointing out that the Commission has surprisingly said who is not involved but remained silent on who is involved.

The entire Christian community rejects the Justice Somashekara Commission report and demands that the Government too should reject the report in toto. ``We urge the Government to refer the entire Church attacks episode must be referred to CBI to bring out the truth and punish the culprits. We also want the Government to immediately withdraw all the cases lodged against our innocent Christian youth numbering more than 150 and also to take immediate steps to pay just and adequate compensation to all the Churches and Places of Worship, which bore the brunt of the Chruch attacks in Mangalore, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Bangalore, Davangere, Gulbarga, Davangere etc,” he said.

The Archbishop said the Christian churches of all denominations will hold similar protests, dharanas or rallies in their respective districts/dioceses towards this week-end to draw the Government’s attention to the just demands of the Christian community before the commencement of the budget session of the state legislature.

"It is deeply painful to hear baseless allegations that Christians are indulging in conversions and to be treated and branded as the attackers instead of getting sympathy and support from the powers-that-be for being the victims. The contribution of the Christians of all denominations in the fields of education, health care and social service is too well-known and widely acknowledged,” he said expressing his unhappiness at the intriguing silence of the Government on the demands of the Christians.

The Archbishop lamented that the Chief Minister had refused to give him an appointment to meet him despite frequent attempts and contacts to the latter’s office. ``We have already met the Governor and presented our memorandum. When the Chief Minister did not give us an appointment, I personally went to the Chief Minister’s office in Vidhana Soudha along with other priests and personally delivered the copy of our memorandum listing our demands on seeking rejection of the Justice Somashekara Commission report, ordering a CBI inquiry, withdrawal of all cases against 150 odd innocent youth and grant of adequate and just compensation,” he said.

St Antony’s Shrine Attacked

The Archbishop strongly condemned the latest instance of attack on St Antony’s Shrine at Hennur Main Road in the city, probably in the early hours of today or late last night, and demanded that the police authorities must take immediate action to identify and book the culprits. ``I am still awaiting details of this latest attack. I have been given sketchy details. But this attack, coming soon after the submission of the Justice Somashekara Commission’s report against which the entire Christian community is up in arms, is shocking and comes as adding salt to the already fresh wounds,” he said wondering whether the attack was part of retaliation against the Christians for raising the banner of protest and outcry against the Justice Somashekara Commission.  ``I hope the police department takes prompt action to nab the culprits and ensure that such incidents do not recur,” he said pointing out that over 300 cases of attacks against churches and places of worship had been reported in different parts of the State during the last three years, especially after the present government came to power.