Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SP)
New Delhi, Sep 18: George Fernandes, NDA convener and ex-defence minister of the country, is known for his simple way of living and high ethical standards. Known to be close to the BJP top brass, particularly ex-prime minister A B Vajpayee, Fernandes continues to play an important role in the country's politics. He still possesses excellent communication skills and had helped the NDA regime to come out of problems by displaying deft conciliatory skills. He is like a patriarch to the NDA and his advice is sought frequently on many issues. Fernandes, who hails from Mangalore, was very much worried to learn that for the first time in the history of Dakshina Kannada district, peace-loving Catholics were targetted and their churches were vandalized.
Fernandes has since written a letter to Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, informing him that the he is aware of the atrocities being heaped on the Catholic/Christian community of the district since Sunday September 14. He has affirmed that he knows the community very well and can vouch for their love for peace and harmonious co-existence with people belonging to other religions.
The ex-defence minister has said in the letter that he has been apprised of the senseless vandalism let loose by miscreants on the Monastery of Perpetual Adoration at Milagres, Mangalore, belonging to the Little Sisters of St Clare, whose only vocation is to pray. He has condemned the act of desecrating of the Blessed Sacrament kept at the chapel. The Catholics spontaneously reacted to the provocations. Under such a charged atmosphere, a reaction that came from them, which was not a pre-meditated one, was not on unexpected lines, Fernandes has stressed.
Fernandes has pointed out that the course left for the vandals was to come up with tangible proof of activities against which they have grouse and seek legal recourse, instead of taking the law into their own hands and provoking the Mangalorean Catholic/Christian community, which is both peace-loving and law-abiding.
The NDA convener has expressed deep concern about the way more than a dozen churches and places of worship were systematically and simultaneously attacked. The fact that the attacks took place at the same time show that they were pre-planned by forces hell-bent on creating religious disharmony between the communities, he has pointed out. Fernandes has also stated in the letter that the developments do not augur well for the people of the region in particular and the state of Karnataka in general.
Fernandes has expressed his unhappiness at the harsh treatment meted out by the policemen to the community members, who were reacting to the sudden and grave provocation and also arresting them, instead of arresting the miscreants who vandalized the places of worship. He has expressed his strong displeasure at the fact that the police chased people in the church premises which they were trying to protect, and arresting the youth and old alike. The police brutality unleashed on the aggrieved people is like adding insult to the injury, he has pointed out and reminded the chief minister that the bitter memories of these incidents are hard to forget.
He has also reminded Yeddyurappa through the letter, that lawlessness persists in a state where the government does not protect what is precious for its citizens. He has further drawn the attention of the chief minister to the fact that it is the duty of the state to provide security to all the religious institutions and not to allow any individuals or groups to vent their anger through destructive means. He has also requested the state chief minister to order release of protestors taken into custody by the police and also to take urgent steps to bring together both the communities, for ushering in an era of renewed cordiality between them, with a spirit of harmony and reconciliation.
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