The Hindu : Vote against nominees of `communal forces'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli

Vote against nominees of `communal forces'

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUNELVELI, FEB.14 . Terming the forthcoming Parliamentary election as an "opportune time for churches to vote conscientiously", the 25th quadrennial Assembly of the National Council for Churches in India, which concluded its four-day summit here yesterday, discussed at length the issue — whom to support in the ensuing election.

The last day of the meeting witnessed a prolonged debate on supporting parties and their candidates. It appealed to its members to exercise their franchise against nominees of "communal forces".

The meeting, in one of its resolutions, said Christians, as a religious minority, felt pushed to the wall even as discriminatory laws such as anti-conversion law, were passed in some of the States. Christians and other religious minorities felt more threatened over strengthening of communal forces.

While welcoming the positive signs in the peace process initiatives taken by Pakistan and India, the summit came down heavily on the "War on Terrorism" waged by the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries, ignoring the millions of voices across the globe that protested and pleaded against war on Iraq and the "planned genocide of religious minorities in Gujarat".

The meeting also resolved to become more sensitive to the cries of the persons afflicted with HIV / AIDS, women and the tribals subjected to violence by the dominant sections.

Expressing concern that the church had fallen a prey to consumerist values, dominant cultures and paradigms and shut its eyes to the plight of the poor, the assembly appealed to the Church, particularly leaders of the church, to be role models in leading an exemplary, simple life and being accountable to the church and the society.

Earlier, the Bishop in Tirunelveli, Rt. Rev. Jayapaul David, was selected as new president of the NCCI by a 40-member nomination committee.

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