The Hindu : Other States / Rajasthan News : Delegates reaching Kota continue to face RSS ire

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Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

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Delegates reaching Kota continue to face RSS ire

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB. 22. Sangh Parivar activists continue to disrupt movement of delegates reaching the Rajasthan town of Kota to attend a course on the Bible and Christian theology at the Emmanuel Mission Society.

A group of 22, who included tribals and a pregnant woman, on their way to Kota from Udaipur were stopped on Monday by the activists at the bus station in Bundi district town. Later they were forcibly sent back to Udaipur.

Following the violent protests by the workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal on the arrival of 275 delegates from Andhra Pradesh by train in the early hours of Saturday, the administration has provided security to the headquarters of the Emmanuel Bible Institute Samiti, situated at Bhimganjmandi in Kota town.

The personnel of the Rajasthan Armed Police are guarding the area now. However, the president of the Emmanuel Ministries International, Bishop Samuel Thomas, told The Hindu that he had sought security from the Central forces for the scheduled function. Bishop Samuel has also written to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on the prevailing sense of insecurity for the minorities in the area.

The Sangh is opposing the programme with the argument that the congregation was meant for a mass religious conversion. The Bajrang Dal, the RSS and the Hindu Jagran Manch have taken a stand that they would not let the programme take place.

After Saturday's violence in which eight persons, including a Catholic nun who was not part of the contingent, sustained injuries, the Sangh activists did not disturb about 2,250 delegates who disembarked from trains coming from South India on Sunday as well as Monday.

However, the Administration reportedly has communicated to the Mission its "inability" to protect them if it went ahead with the programme as scheduled from February 23 to 27.

The local Administration is reportedly trying to prevail upon the Mission, which has its headquarters in Kota, to reduce the number of days, if doing away with the programme is not acceptable.

The Social Welfare Minister, Madan Dilawar, who has termed the whole programme an "anti-national" activity, is camping in the town while four officials of his department are trying to find out more about the activities of the Emmanuel Mission. Mr.Dilawar had opposed the conferment of the title of Padma Shri to Archbishop M.A.Thomas, the founder of the Mission, a few years ago.

Meanwhile, sources at the Catholic Diocese of Ajmer-Jaipur explained that Saturday's attack on Sister Ida of the Mission Sisters of Ajmer at Kota railway station could be a case of "mistaken identity".

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