Daijiworld Media Network – Belgaum (SP)
Belgaum, Aug 26: On behalf of the Christian community, a delegation led by Bishop of Belgaum, Peter Machado, comprising Fr George Lopez, Fr Joseph Chenakala SJ, Louis Rodrigues, Oscar D’Souza, Girgol Rodrigues, Clara Fernandes, Kumar Tiwari and several other dignitaries as its members, met the state Chief Minister (CM), B S Yeddyurappa, on his arrival at the local airport on Wednesday August 25.
The Bishop explained to the Chief Minister about the shock and hurt feelings of the members of the Christian community at the comments made by Khanapur MLA, Prahlad Remani, against the Christians at his Independence Day address at Khanapur. The delegation drew the attention of the CM to the call given by Remani to ‘weed out the Christians from the country’, and handed over a memorandum to him, seeking action against the MLA in question. Bishop Machado told the CM that the Christian community will forgive Remani if he tenders an apology to them.
The CM, who expressed regret at the insensitive comments passed by the BJP MLA, assuaged the feelings of the Bishop. He later told the media that he would direct Prahlad Remani to tender an unconditional apology to the Christians for his comments, failing which, the party would act against the erring legislator.
The Bishop thanked the CM for his assurance and for understanding the feelings of the Christian community and taking immediate steps to redress their grievances.
Through the memorandum, the community members have also taken exception to the remarks made by the MLA that the British had sown the seeds of Christianity in India, thus trying to incite communal disharmony in the society. About 4,000 Christians along with like-minded people had taken out a peace protest in Khanapur on August 18 to draw the attention of the public to the fact that their sentiments have been hurt, it has been explained.
The memorandum also has alerted the CM against the move of MLA to divert the attention from the real issue, by encouraging his supporters to organize protests against forceful conversions, which is altogether a different issue. The Christian community has already filed complaint against the MLA under various sections of the IPC, the CM was told.