Hindu Extremists Set Fire St. Peter And Paul Cathedral Church Of The Jabalpur Catholic Diocese, In Madhya Pradesh
BHOPAL, SEPT. 19, 2008, 08.10 Hrs (Anand Muttungal / CBCI News):
A Hindu Extremist group named Dharm Raksha Sena set fire the Cathedral Church of the Catholic diocese of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place, around 8.15 pm on September 18. The eye witnesses said," We saw three persons speeding away from the Church premises on a Pulsur motorbike, We did not know the reason, but after sometime we came to know that the Church has been set on fire."
It may be recalled that this Church which was very badly damaged during the 22nd May 1997 earthquake that hit Jabalpur district. Following the earthquake the Church was rebuilt. This Church is in the midst of a large campus and surrounded by many Christian institutions and houses. Police and the district administration are tight lipped on the entire issue.
The incident follows the burning of the Church in Ratlam district and Indore district which happened during the last two weeks. The police had falsely implicated Christians in both the cases.
St. Aloysius College Principal Fr. Dr. Davis George said , " the members of the Dharm Raksha Sena lead by Yogesh Agrwal had threatened the Parish Priest Fr. Rocky that he would burn the Church. He is said to have challenged the parish priest to stop him. Since Fr. Rocky did not see anybody burning the Church he chose to file an FIR without mentioning any person by name. But after the Church burning incident, Fr.Davis said:"We will now amend the FIR and include the names of those who came to threaten the parish priest. "
Mr. Marko
Antony, the Joint Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasang said " the
threat to burn the Church had come only in the morning of the incident and by
evening they had carried out the threat. Thought the police know the culprits
they are trying to save them. We will not allow this," he said.
" The miscreants burnt the altar, sanctuary , the Holy Bible , the Cross, the
statue of Sts. Peter and Paul and many other religious objects in the Church.
“We are ready to go to any extend to protect our faith", said Mr. Manish Charles, the State Youth President of the Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh.
Hearing
the news thousands of angry people gathered in the Church demanding immediate
arrest of the culprits. They blocked all roads leading to the city of Jabalpur.
Following the incident the state administration has posted police at Churches
and Convents all over the state.
It is to be noted that the Church burning incident has been timed to coincide
with the e visit of the Chief Minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan to Jabalpur as
part of his Janashirvad Yatra, an election campaign programme. The Christian
community is planning to meet the Chief Minister and demand strict action on Mr.
Yogesh Agarwal as well as security for Church personnel and institutions all
over the state. On 31st August the same extremists group had come to the
Cathedral Church to burn the effigy of the Holy Father. The youths and police
had intervened in time to prevent this.
Archbishop Dr. Leo Cornelio of Bhopal held an emergency meeting in Bhopal. He
condemned the incident and asked for the immediate arrest of the culprits. In
the meantime Jabalpur Bishop Dr. Jerald Almeda said," Today around 11 am we had
received information that in Madhya Pradesh many Churches would be attacked. I
never thought that anyone would attempt to burn the Cathedral Church since it is
very much inside the campus. It is one of the most unfortunate times for us, we
need to stand united."
Jabalpur diocese decided to close down all institutions run buy the Christians
in the district as a mark of protest against the growing incidents of violence
and against the wanton attack on the Cathedral Church. Madhya Pradesh Isai
Mahasang has called an emergency meeting of office bearers to chalk out a
strategy to deal with the communal situation."
Fr. Anand Muttungal, the PRO & Spokesperson for M.P Bishops Council and coordinator of Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh said the series of attacks on the Christians and the attempt to brand all Muslims as terrorists, are part of a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar and certain political parties to capture power by all means.
Fr. Anand Muttungal
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Courtesy: http://www.cbcisite.com/cbcinews2406.htm