Kerala - Kottayam   

Churches vow to protect rights

SHOW OF STRENGTH: Philipose Mar Chrysostum Mar Thoma Metropolitan, head of the Mar Thoma Church of Malabar, inaugurates a public meeting organised by the various Christian denominations under the auspices of the Inter-Church Council for Education in Kottayam on Sunday.

KOTTAYAM: The various Christian denominations came together under the auspices of the Inter-Church Council for Education, an umbrella organisation of various Episcopal Churches in the education sector, to put up an impressive show of strength here on Sunday.

They reiterated their resolve to continue the struggle to protect minority rights and pledged to protect their rights at any cost as ‘valiant soldiers of the faith,’ warning the State Government of strong reaction if their rights were trampled upon.

The meeting, through a resolution, pointed out that the community had always been part of the national mainstream and said that they had never turned away from the demands made by the majority community.

The resolution also asked the members of the majority community to cooperate with the struggle for justice by the Christian denominations. The resolution extended their call to other minority communities as well.

Addressing tens of thousands of the faithful, Philipose Mar Chrysostum Mar Thoma Metropolitan, head of the Mar Thoma Church of Malabar, said theirs was a struggle not against anyone, but to protect their rights as was the duty of every responsible house owner who would keep his belongings from being appropriated by thieves. He called upon those in power to be respectful of democratic rights and asked the flock to keep the independence they were enjoying in the education sector. The rights being enjoyed by the people were earned after protracted struggles and it was not possible to submit them to anyone, he said.

In his key note address, Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil, chairman of the Inter-Church Council, said that with Sunday’s show of strength no one would be able to reject the opinions expressed by the Council as an isolated voice. There was a concerted effort right from the beginning to rebuff the demands, dubbing them as solitary voices.

There were also efforts to bring in divisiveness within the Church, he said, and hoped the massive participation in Sunday’s meeting would help decision-makers take a realistic approach to the minority rights issue which was core to the crisis in the education sector.

The Archbishop questioned the sincerity of the Government in finding a lasting solution to the imbroglio through discussions and asked the Government to desist from resorting to coercive methods.

The resolution adopted by the meeting protested the moves to destroy minorities and expressed apprehension at the stance taken by the Government in this regard.

The meeting was chaired by Metropolitan Thomas Mar Athanasius of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Other Christian congregations were represented by their respective heads or senior priests.

The only exception was the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church which was conspicuous by its absence.

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