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NATION,
NCM
Breaking
Faith
Inter-denomination
rivalry leads to Christian groups boycotting the Minorities Commission
By
Lakshmi Iyer
Eight
months ago the BJP-led NDA Government recast the National Commission for
Minorities (NCM)-a constitutional body since 1992-under the stewardship
of Justice Mohammed Shamim. It could not have anticipated then that a
commission member, John Joseph, would be alienated from influential sections
of his Christian community.
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| Christians
take to the streets to make a political point |
The Catholic
Church, more precisely the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI),
has refused to accept Joseph as a representative as he belongs to a minor
denomination, the Indian Pentecostal Church of God. The CBCI is upset
with the Government for disregarding its own recommendations.
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THE
MAN IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
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CHARGES
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Acts
as a government stooge, giving clean chit to the VHP and the Bajrang
Dal in anti-Christian violence.
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Promotes minor Christian denominations at the cost of major ones
like the Catholic Church.
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Not acting in solidarity with the Christian community.
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Blames Christian extremists instead of Hindu groups.
DEFENCE
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The attacks on Uttar Pradesh Christian sites was criminal, not
communal.
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All Christian denominations must get equal weightage.
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Conversions are at the root of Hindu-Christian tensions.
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When the
NCM concluded that the attacks on Christian institutions in Uttar Pradesh
in April were criminal and not communal incidents, the CBCI alleged that
Joseph had sold out. It has since refused to do business with him or for
that matter with the commission.
Last month,
the CBCI called off NCM brokered talks with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) and Bajrang Dal leaders even though the idea of such a dialogue
had been mooted by its President Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselius. Interestingly,
the CBCI did not rake up similar charges when Joseph was an NCM member
between 1993 and 1996.
Nevertheless,
the CBCI's opposition has made things difficult for Joseph. Last week
he could not travel with the commission to Ahmedabad. Threats of boycott
and black flag demonstrations forced him to opt out. While the clergy's
charges have put the commission under severe pressure, Justice Shamim
asserts, "The NCM report on attacks on Uttar Pradesh's Christian
institutions is fair, impartial and correct. It bears my signature. Why
should Joseph be singled out?" Shamim denies the panel is being prevailed
upon to give a clean chit to Hindu fundamentalist groups: "We did
not say that there was no atrocity on Christians. Our report was confined
to four instances in Uttar Pradesh." The NCM's findings in the state
were privately endorsed by a visiting Congress team.
more...For
Christ's Sake
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