Goa Church condemns 'India Shining' campaign PRAKASH KAMAT TIMES NEWS NETWORK Economic Times [ THURSDAY, APRIL 08, 2004 01:50:03 PM ]
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/606447.cms PANAJI: �Who exactly feels good?� For whom is �India Shining�? These questions were sent out by Goa�s Catholic Church�s Diocesan Service Centre for Social Action. They have gladdened the hearts of Congress-NCP in Goa, but at the same time given rise to sharp criticism from BJP President Venkaiah Naidu. In a message last time, the Goa Church had urged people to reject the �defectors�. The church seemed to have decided to target the habitual defectors while criticising corrupt elements in the state. In the last assembly election, South Goa saw the rise of an alternative �United Goan Democratic Party� (UGDP), with three MLAs being elected, who backed the BJP�s Manohar Parrikar to form a government. Needless to say the Congress party had got badly defeated. And now, the Church finally realises the need for the secular forces. Consequently, the two-page message was released by Fr. Valeriono Vaz that sent out some clear signal to �shun� the communal parties in India. This undoubtedly has sent a wave of discomfort in the ruling coalition as BJP is fighting to retain both the seats it won in last election. The message assumes significance as it has arrived a couple of weeks after the Delhi- based Catholic Bishop�s conference of India (CBCI). The leaflet is basically �to help restore democratic rights to the common people� and it strongly admonishes the India shining campaign on which �crores public money was spent.� �Shining India is not a reality, when 26 crore people are living below the poverty line�, it went on to comment. There is lack of transparency in government, it further adds saying. It has referred to things like proposed infrastructure development taken up by the government for International Film festival of India (IFFI). It also claimed that major proposals, projects and plans deserve wide consultation. It felt that projects are being hoisted on citizens as Acts and Ordinances or by simply asking government bodies like Goa infrastructure Development Corporation to implement the plans. Important legislations are passed even without proper debate, the DSCSA leaflet said. It charged that the politics has infiltrated into the age-old system of culture and religion. �A few organisations are being encouraged to become aggressive in rhetoric and militant methods. Their strategies are directed in building fear in selected ethnic, cultural and religious groups. The leaflet also made a reference to the Gujarat carnage and stated, �the scars of the genocide in Gujarat will take a long, long time to heal, if they ever do� it said. Naidu took objection to the Church�s criticism of India shining and asked, �If India is not shining is America shining�, when journalists sought his reaction to the Diocesan Centre�s statement. He also did not appreciate the Church�s appeal to people to vote for secular parties. �Is the church supposed to issue such orders�, he asked and went on to comment that it will not be good for the country if churches, temples and mosques issue such orders. �How can religious institutions take sides, if they take sides, they cannot call themselves secular,� said the BJP President. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
