Kerala - Alappuzha   

Fishermen's leaders hit out at the clergy of Latin Church

Staff Reporter

ALAPPUZHA: The Alappuzha district committee of the Kerala Swatantra Matsya Tozhilali Federation has alleged that the clergy of the Latin Catholic Church is trying to influence political parties by posing as the sole proprietor of the votes of the Christian fishermen community in the State with the vested interest of regaining its lost hold over the laity.

Lal Koipparambil, patron of the organisation, and Felix Arattukulam, district president, told a press conference here on Thursday that the clergy was slowly losing its hold over the fishermen community in the coastal areas of the State which was moving away from centre-right parties. Realising the trend, the clergy is trying to woo Left parties and strike a rapport with their leaders.

Mr. Koipparambil said the clergy was not allowing the laity leadership to become part of the political leadership. They are keeping the leadership of the community with themselves.

He said there was no meaning in the Church crying for the implementation of the Narendran Commission report when it had failed to integrate the Christian fishermen community with the mainstream. The Church has failed to make the community competitive even after 100 years of its work in the social and education fields. But other backward community organisations including the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam have succeeded in integrating their communities with the mainstream. He alleged that the Church had been working for the upper strata of society and had not done anything for the lower strata.

If the Church has any integrity it should provide reservation for the Scheduled Castes in its institutions. What right the Church has to speak on social justice when the poor among Christian fishermen have not much representation in the institutions of the Latin Catholic Church, he asked.

He said the Federation would contest the coming local bodies elections in those areas where fishermen had influence.

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