Even as the government in south Indian state of Karnataka is mulling the necessity to enact a law to ban forcible religious conversions, an opinion is emerging against such a move.
A delegation of bishops and priests led by Archbishop of Bengaluru, Peter Machado, met chief minister CM) Basavaraj Bommai on September 22 and discussed this issue. Bengaluru is the capital of Karnataka, a state in south India.
The priests expressed their unhappiness at the allegations made by former minister, Goolihatti Shekhar, about forced religious conversions by Christens. They vehemently denied the allegation and stressed that no forcible conversions occur in Christianity and termed the said allegations as being far from true.
"Thousands of children study in Christian institutions and none of them have been converted. Therefore, we insist that there is no need for a separate bill to stop conversions," the prelate stated.
Speaking to media persons after meeting the CM, Archbishop Machado dismissed allegations of religious conversions as untrue. He pointed out that hundreds of schools, colleges and hospitals are run under the name of every Bishop. He said that over 100,000 children study in Christian institutions here and that they had advised none of them to get converted to Christianity. He also felt that if any minor incidents have happened, it is not right to blow them out of proportion.
After listening to them, he said that the CM told them that none of them are indulging in forcible conversions, in his opinion.
"Someone is trying to malign us. The issue is being debated in the assembly. Let the discussions take place. We have told people not to do such things. It is not right if someone approaches people, hands over book and cross and converts them. We too have conscience and moral responsibility. We are not forcing anyone," he asserted.
In a memorandum submitted to the CM, the bishops noted that such a law would lead to "unnecessary communal issues and unrest" with many more controversial statements and reactions made following the same.
The memorandum also noted the need to include representation from Christian managements in the NEP implementation committees. "Even though thousands of educational institutions are being managed by members from the community, we would like to bring to your notice that there is no Christian representation in various committees formed to implement NEP," the letter read.
The bishops also urged Bommai to establish a Christian Development Board under the government to ensure their welfare and address demands made by the community on various fronts. Frank Krishner | RVA News
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
