Stop Making Statements Disturbing Communal Amity, Bishops Tell Kerala CM
KOCHI, Kerala (SAR NEWS) — Kerala Catholic bishops have urged the state chief minister, V.S. Achuthanandan, to stop making statements that disturb peace and communal harmony.
They were reacting to the chief minister’s recent tirade on the minority communities that they were increasingly becoming sectarian in their outlook. He had also said minority communalism was on the rise in the state.
Terming as “unfortunate” Achuthanandan’s comments, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) June 10 said those in power should refrain from issuing such statements.
Speaking to reporters here after a three-day meeting of the Council, KCBC president Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios said minority communities, especially Christians, had always respected the majority community, the Hindus.
He said Christians had sacrificed immeasurably for the development of the state and they would continue to do so. He said everyone had a responsibility to safeguard religious harmony.
Achuthanandan had on June 1 charged the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) of appeasing communalism with an eye on the Assembly polls to be held early next year.
“Moves to win the support of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and the merger of Kerala Congress factions under pressure from the Church are clear indications of the way the UDF is moving,” he had said.
Bishop Ignathios also raised the problems faced by the education sector. He said those in power had the responsibility to permanently solve the problems in the self-financing educational sector.
