Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
With Inputs from Media Release

Mangaluru, Nov 25: The All India Catholic Union (AICU), the apex national organisation of the Catholic Laity in the country, on Friday November 25 attacked the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over various policies and moves, especially the proposed education policy, the Uniform Civil Code and the recently introduced demonetisation of high currency notes.

Addressing a press meet at Shanthi Kiran, Bajjodi here, AICU past national president and spokesperson, Dr John Dayal said, "The All India Catholic Union has asked the NDA government to focus on major issues of employment generation for India’s youth, mitigating the hardships of farmers and labourers who constitute the majority of the population, and in devising a social security safety net for every Indian citizen, and law and order.

"Instead of ensuring justice for all, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems intent on thrusting policies that singularly target religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities. This is evident in the proposed and RSS-inspired new education policy, and the controversial Uniform Civil Code in which a sort of a national referendum is being engineered by the Law Commission of India. The threat to freedom of expression and the use of the FCRA to coerce and silence the Civil Society are also dangerous signals," he said.

On Demonetisation

"Representing a section of the law abiding citizen of India, the Catholic Laity is totally against corruption in public life, of which the generation and use of black money is such a part. The AICU however notes that the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes ordered by the Prime Minister was done without planning and foresight, and has brought untold grief to the poor, whether farmers or the urban poor," Dr Dayal said.

"It may or may not have unearthed black money stacked by the wealthy and by the ruling class, but has certainly dealt a serious blow to cooperative banks, personal savings and labours’ livelihood. The middle class has been affected too. The agriculture economy of Karnataka will also be a victim," he added.

Uniform Civil Code

On the much-debated Uniform Civil Code (UCC), he said, "The AICU has not boycotted the National Law Commission but has engaged with it. It has submitted an initial response to the Law Commission on the issue of personal laws and the UCC. It has challenged the premise and the nature of questions proposed by the National Law Commission. The AICU is committed to gender justice in public life as much as in private and married life cutting across religions, regions and ethnicities. It notes with sadness that in many sectors women are paid less than men for equal amount of work, and are denied facilities for rearing their young children.

"The AICU has been in solidarity with Christian women in the still only partly successful struggle to reform 19th-century laws governing Christian marriages and issues. It has also welcomed national laws such as the Special Marriages Act and the Juvenile Justice Act which help those who want to voluntarily avail of them. The intent of the government is exposed in the questionnaire released by the National Law Commission. The questions are heavily loaded against a particular community. India is a country of monumental diversity. Each religion itself mirrors this diversity. The government even during the time of NDA Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had, despite sustained demands by the Catholic community, failed to say what was in its mind and on which various community could and reflect," he said.

New Education Policy

"The AICU joined the protest rally this month at Parliament House called by the Joint Action Committee Against the Anti People Education Policy which had been proposed by the National human resources ministry earlier this year. The protest rally was a great success and was supported by all non-BJP political parties, as well as the broad spectrum of private and minority run educational institutions. The NEP is without doubt inspired by the RSS agenda, harks back to a Vedic era and Sanskrit as a language for the propagation of couture and nationalism. The policy ignores the contribution of the Christian community to education in the country over the last 200 years or more. It seeks to communalise, corporatise and commercialize education, and strike down the federal rights of state governments. It will also close all avenues of higher education for the children of the poor and the marginalised, including children forced to labour. This proposed policy will undo all that has been done in education in the country. AICU will work with other religious and civic society groups in bringing about much needed reforms that will strengthen the secular human and nation building nature of education," the AICU said.

"The AICU national working committee is meeting in Mangaluru for the first time after Lancy D'Cunha took over as National President. He is a resident of the city and the first person from Karnataka to be elected head of the 97-year-old Laity organisation," he informed.

The press conference was also addressed by the All India Catholic Union national president Lancy D'Cunha, national vice president Elias Vaz, secretary general A Chinnappan and treasurer Alexander Anthony.