ALL INDIA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL 79/B I&II Floors, Street 8, West Marredpally, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh President: Dr Joseph D' Souza Secretary General: Dr. John Dayal
Please correspond with Secretary General at: Phone (91 11) 2722262 Fax 2726582 Mobile 09811021072 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URGENT PRESS STATEMENT Saturday, April 13th, 2002 Vajpayee Betrays Nation in darkest day of Democracy Goa speech encourages Fascist violence against Minorities The speech of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India and life long cadre of the RSS, in the Goa session of the Bharatiya Janata party, marks the darkest day in the history of democracy and rule of law in this land, All India Christian Council President Dr Joseph D Souza and Secretary General Dr John Dayal have said in their Press statement today. The All India Christian Council condemns in the strongest terms the speech of the Prime minister, and all its insinuations, as an invitation to mass violence and the disintegration of the country. The Christian Council statement adds: In cold-blooded cynicism, Vajpayee has in one fell swoop defamed world religions Islam and Christianity, condoned state terrorism, forgiven Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi (who is seen as a mass murderer by those who have survived his pogrom, as well as by civil society), and sought to convert the bigotry and hate campaigns of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad into votes for the Bharatiya Janata party. While this may come as a shock or a surprise to some of Mr Vajpayee's partners in the ruling National Democratic Alliance coalition, the minorities and secular people of India have always known that when it comes to the lust for power, Mr Vajpayee does not hesitate a moment in shedding his mask or his pretense, to re-emerge as a violent protagonist of Hindutva, at par with the Shiv Sena's Bal Thakarey or his own colleagues Mr L K Advani, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, RSS supremo Kupahalli Sudershan, and their most ardent and faithful follower, Mr Narendra Modi. Mr Vajpayee's speech pours salt and acid on the wounds of all victims of sectarian violence, be they Muslims butchered in barbaric brutality by the police and the Sangh Parivar in Ahmedabad, Baroda and the forests of northern Gujarat, Graham Stuart Staines and Father Christu Raj who were murdered in Orissa, or the nuns raped in Jhabua, later scene of a triumphant RSS rally. He even insults the memory of the innocent dead of the train at Godhra. The gruesome burning alive of 59 persons was universally condemned. To now rationalize, and thereby encourage, retaliatory violence in its wake is to savagely criminalise civilisational discourse in India. This is fraught with danger. The actions of the Sangh Parivar have crippled the rule of law, made fragile India's democratic polity, and fractured the unity of its plural cultural heritage. The Prime Minister statements sharpen cleavages to the point of rupture, posing a direct threat to India's unity and integrity. It is still not too late for Mr Vajpayee's NDA partners to wake up and act decisively. The final word is with the peace loving people of India. When elections are called in Gujarat and the country, Mr Vajpayee will learn to his cost that the great Indian people are capable of love, desire peace, are proud of their plural cultural heritage, and summarily reject Fascism. The people will show they do not want governments founded on the blood of the innocent. This we believe. ---------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
