CBCI delegation meets Indian ministers

(November 23, 2009) A delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) met two ministers of the government of India last week to express the concerns of the Christian community in the country. CBCI secretary-general Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes of Gandhinagar headed the delegation on Friday to meet Home Minister, P. Chidambaram and Minister for Minority Affairs, Salman Khurshid in New Delhi. The delegation included Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack- Bhubaneshwar, Bishop Charles Soreng of Hazaribagh, Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the CBCI and Mr. P.I. Jose, Supreme Court Advocate. Chidambaram was apprised of the latest development in Kandhamal district, the epicentre of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa state last year. The group urged Chidambaram to take appropriate measures to bring justice to the victims of the violence. Among several grievances brought to the minister were the laxity on the part of the district administration in providing adequate building materials for those who lost homes, the malicious propaganda against Christians in Orissa, particularly in the local media, the forceful conversion of Christians returning to their villages and a vitiated atmosphere in the fast-track court premises due to the strong presence of extremist Hindus threatening witnesses. The delegation also presented the draft of Christian Community’s observations on The Communal Violence Bill 2005 on the prevention, control and rehabilitation of victims and urged him to pass it without delay in the Parliament. In an another meeting with the minister for Minority Affairs, the delegation expressed its concern over a clause in the Right to Education Act which it said would infringe upon the right of minorities to administer their educational institutions.