Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Mar 2: Karnataka Christian Political Leaders Forum has sought an immediate apology from MP Pratap Simha, for his comments against the Christian community. It warned that failing compliance, the community will launch strong agitation against him.
The ire of the community is directed against the instructions issued by the MP to officials at the Karnataka Development Programme meeting held on February 24, in which the MP reportedly directed the officials to identify people moving around with crosses in their necks and to deprive them from the facilities being extended by the government.
Activists of the forum who gathered near the Gandhi statue near Maurya Circle here on Monday March 1, held dharna with crosses in their hands. They raised slogans against the MP. They warned that unless the MP tenders an apology to the community, activists of the forum will gherao all the programmes in which the MP will be participating.
Addressing the protesters, leader of the forum, Antony Vikram, pointed out that Pratap Simha became an MP by getting votes of all the communities. "He draws salary and allowances out of taxes paid by us. The Christian community is provided with government facilities out of the taxes paid by the people, not out of money collected from the MP. He is expected to know these facts," he stated. He said that shooting off their mouths at their whims and fancies happens to be a bad habit of some BJP leaders. "Some leaders of that party cannot go to bed without mouthing derogatory and insulting remarks about other communities. Pratap Simha is speaking as if he has forgotten that he is functioning in a democratic system, not an autocratic one," he criticized.
Vikram said that Pratap Simha would not have issued such a statement if he was aware of the contributions made by the Christians to the progress of the state and the nation. It does not behove of a people's representative to speak on the basis of castes and religions. Therefore, he should offer an apology immediately, he urged.
Dr Rev Manohar Chandra Prasad, Anil Antony Christopher and several others participated in the protest demonstration.