Dharna by 19 Bishops Yields Results: Ashok Promises Withdrawal of Cases
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Feb 18: The dramatic and unprecedented gesture of all the 13 Bishops of Roman Catholics, including Bangalore Archbishop Bernard Moras, and another six Bishops of various protestant denominations of staging a symbolic dharna in the St Mark’s Cathedral campus opposite Mahatma Gandhi statue in the morning, and later travelling together in a bus to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s office in Vidhana Soudha on Friday morning, literally forced the BJP Government to concede most of the demands of the aggrieved Christian community.
Though the Chief Minister had avoided meeting the Bishops and instead, reportedly, advised the Archbishop through his office that they can meet Home Minister R Ashok and submit their memorandum, the Archbishop, who is also the President of the Karnataka United Christian’s Forum for Human Rights and Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council, insisted that he would lead the delegation to the Chief Minister’s office in Vidhana Soudha and submit the report to the officers concerned, if necessary, orced the Government to immediately rush Ashok to the Chief Minister’s office in Vidhana Soudha to meet the visiting prelates.
Ashok, who was accompanied by the State Principal Home Secretary Shiva Kumar, newly appointed Director General of Police S T Ramesh, the Chief Minister’s Private Secretary Lakshminarayana, Personal Secretary Dayashankar and other senior officials in the Chief Minister’s office, patiently heard all the 19 Catholic and Christian Bishops for over half an hour and promised to take immediate steps to withdraw all the 36 cases against 338 innocent Christian youth lodged in connection with the series of attacks against Churches and places of worship in September 2008 by moving the necessary papers for such withdrawal before the State Cabinet.
The Home Minister also asked the DGP to examine and take immediate steps for setting up an exclusive high power cell headed by senior police officials, who can be contacted 24x7, whenever any attacks against Churches took place anywhere in the State and also to sympathetically consider the demand for paying adequate and just compensation to the victims and institutions involved in the Church attacks.
However, with regard to the main demand of all the 19 Christian Bishops for rejecting the Justice B K Somashekara Commission’s report in toto for being partisan, biased, prejudicial and incomplete besides being communal and propagandist and also for not doing justice either to the Christian community or the terms of reference entrusted to it for inquiry and ordering a CBI inquiry to bring out the truth, identify the culprits and take necessary legal action, the Home Minister made it clear that the Government had its own reservations with regard to CBI.
''Our Government has not accepted a single demand for CBI probe. But I will take up the issue with the Chief Minister and consult him before any decision is taken,” he said pointing out that the Government was yet to examine the voluminous and over 1000 page report.
''The Home Secretary has been asked to examine the report para by para and submit a detailed opinion. The report has to be discussed in the State Cabinet and may have to be tabled in the State legislature, if the State Cabinet decides to do so. We are yet to make up our mind. Therefore, there is no justification to nurse any apprehensions on this score,” he clarified.
The Archbishop, at point of time during the meeting with the Home Minister, expressed his hurt feelings that the Chief Minister had not bothered to give him an appointment to meet him despite frequent requests during the last 10 days.
''Even when we requested a meeting with all the 19 Bishops representing all the Christian denominations in Karnataka, we were not given an appointment. We were told the Chief Minister is busy with budget preparation and other meetings and programmes. We merely wanted a couple of minutes. It has hurt us deeply that the Chief Minister of the State has declined to give an appointment to meet the 19 Christian Bishops coming together. This is not a small matter to be treated lightly. Everybody, including the Government and all political leaders are aware of the service of Christians in the field of education, healthcare and social service and the development of the State and the country,” he said.
The Home Minister said the Bishops need to not nurture any hurt feelings against the Government or the Chief Minister. ''I am a firm believer in communal harmony and all people of relgions should live in complete harmony without any fear. I know Christians are peaceful and law-abiding. I am a regular visitor to Infant Jesus Shrine in Viveknagar and am friendly with many Christian priests and institutions,” he said pointing out that the Chief Minister probably wanted the Christians to meet him as the Home Minister because the Justice Somashekara Commission and the incidents of Church attacks as also the demand for withdrawal of cases came directly under him.
Incidentally, at the end of the meeting, when the Home Minister informed the Archbishop and other Bishops that they were free to disclose his promises on withdrawal of cases and on other issues to waiting media reporters outside the Chief Minister’s office, the Archbishop insisted that Ashok should first make the announcement himself and he would speak to the press later. This prompted Ashok to go inside the ante-room and probably hold consultations with the Chief Minister along with the Principal Home Secretary and DGP behind closed doors, while the Archbishop and other Bishops patiently waited.
Later, the Home Minister personally made the announcements before the waiting media and the Archbishop confirmed it. He, however, urged the Government to reject the Somashekara Commission report, which had failed to identify the culprits or who was behind the Church attacks while strangely repeatedly asserting who were not involved. ''How can we accept a commission which fails to answer the terms of reference but says something outside its purview by absolving the perpetrators?,” the Archbishop asked.
Earlier, the 19 Bishops led by Archbishop arrived at the St Mark’s Cathedral campus on M G Road and spent some time offering silent prayers inside the cathedral. All the 19 Bishops later observed a token silent dharna for half an hour facing the Mahatma Gandhi statue. There was absolute silence and no slogan shouting. However, over 250 victims of various church attacks had assembled inside the St Mark’s Cathedral campus right from morning, who along with a large number of Christian faithful moved on to the pavements of M G Road to express silent solidarity with the Bishops’ offering Dharna.
The Archbishop, at the end of the dharna, released a book, ''Tears of the Unbreakable Faith,” compiled by Dr Sajan K George of Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), which is a compendium of all the cases of Church attacks and the published findings of the Justice Somashekara Commission in its interim report and also the recent final report.
The Bishops’ who offered dharna are: Archbishop Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras; Most Rev Dr Vasantha Kumar, Moderator, CSI Church; Most Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore; Most Rev Dr Lawrence Mukkozhy, Bishop of Belthangady; Most Rev Dr John Sadananda, Bishop of CSI Southern Diocese, Most Rev Dr J Prabhakara Rao, Bishop of CSI Church, Dharwad; Most Rev Dr Taranath S Sagar, Bishop of Methodist Church; Most Rev Dr Joseph Arumachadath, Bishop of Bhadravathi; Most Rev Dr Thomas Vazhapilly, Bishop of Mysore; Most Rev Dr Samuel Mathew, Bishop of Believers Church; Most Rev Dr Henry D’Souza, Bishop of Bellary; Most Rev Dr Derik 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 Yashwanth, President FCCO.
Later, all the 19 Bishops went to Raj Bhavan to meet Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj and submitted a memorandum on the grievances and demands of the Christian community.
The Archbishop also clarified that the mass protest rally and prayer meeting along with candle light vigil organized under the banner of Karnataka United Christians’ Forum for Human Rights at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, at Coles Park Road, in Bangalore on Monday, February 21 from 4 pm to 7.30 pm would be held as scheduled. ''We are organizing the mass protest rally to register our hurt feelings and voice our protest,” he said.
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