Pics: Stany Bela
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)

Mangaluru, Jun 11: The Rashtriyavadi Kristara Vedike led by Franklin Monteiro on Sunday June 11 staged a protest against cow theft and slaughter in front of St Lawrence Church, Bondel, disturbing the Sunday mass that was going on in the church.

Addressing the protest, Franklin Monteiro said, "Cow slaughter should be banned with immediate effect. The people who are supporting slaughtering of cows are agents of slaughter houses and cow thieves' gangs. In India variety of food is available and I cannot understand why some want to stick to cow meat. Nobody wants to give their cows to slaughterhouses, so cows are being stolen from shed and being slaughtered illegally.

"So many cow theft incidents have been reported in the last few days in this area. We condemn this act. The thieves are being protected by some politicians. If this continues, we will force be forced to organise other methods of protest," he warned.

"As our organisation belongs to the Christian community, we decided to hold this protest with the support of a large number of community members. We met parish priest of Bondel Church but he denied us his support. Some community leaders are behind this. They are getting benefits from cow slaughtering shops and are behaving like their agents," he alleged.

He later distributed cows to three families whose cows had recently been allegedly stolen.

Rashtravadi Kristara Vedike leaders Adv Amruth Lal Joyce, Herald D Souza were protest.

Protest disturbs Sunday mass at Bondel church

Ironically, the organization which claims to 'represent' Christians held its protest at the same time when Sunday mass was going on, showing scant respect to the church. The protestors use loud speakers on high volume, disturbing the mass and hundreds of parishioners and devotees who had gathered.

In his his speech, Franklin Monteiro mentioned the parish priest and the community leaders several times, levelling all sorts of allegations against them. Also, a group devotees from Kerala were misguided by the protesters, who reportedly told them it was a church 'programme'. Later, on hearing the hymns, the group realized that it was the mass.

Kankanady rural police provided security for the protest. Some of the devotees questioned how the police could allow a protest take place in front of a church when mass was going, adding that it hurt their religious sentiments.

Speaking to daijiworld, Bondel parish priest Fr Andrew D'Souza said, "Cow theft has become an issue in our area, so the Rashtriyavadi Kristara Vedike held a protest in front of our church today. We are not against the protest, but against the fact that it was organised at the time of the mass and it disturbed the devotees. This is condemnable. Being a Christian organisation, they should have waited till the end of the mass, but they did not. They used the sound system in high volume and it hurt a lot of devotees. I cannot understand how the police could give permission for this protest at the time of mass. After the mass, a large number of devotees came to me and expressed their disappoint."

Expressing unhappiness regarding the protest, general secretary of district Congress and leader of Christian community Stany Alvares said, "An organisation called Rashtriyavadi Kristara Vedike held a protest in front of the church on cow theft and cow slaughter. It was creating invconvenience to hundreds of devotees present for the Sunday mass. It is unfortunate to note that the core belief of Christianity was disregarded by the protestors who claim to be part of a 'Christian organisation'.

"Everyone has the right to protest, but such freedom must not be misused, like clashing with others' rights to practice their religion. How did the police grant permission for a protest held in such close proximity to a place of worship? These protesters have violated the rule of maintaining adequate distance from the church while protesting. The volume of the sound system was jarring which disturbed the ongoing mass. It seems like some organisations are drawing political mileage from the cow debate. But it is an irony that people are not respected as much as cows. I will take up this matter with higher officials of the police department. Such blithe disregard for faith is condemnable," he said.

Rosaline, a devotee said, "I am a native of Udupi and residing in Mumbai. I came directly from Mumbai to offer special prayers at this church. But I could not concentrate during the mass because of the protest. The speech was too noisy and it disturbed me a lot. After the mass I came to know that the protesters were Christians. I do not question their right to protest, but who gave them the right to disturb others?"