National Policy On Euthanasia Comes Under Attack By SAR NEWS
BANGALORE, Karnataka (SAR NEWS) -- The Law Commission of India's decision to legalise euthanasia or mercy killing, has drawn criticism from various quarters. Dr. Thomas Kalam, a Catholic doctor at St. John's Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore, said: "People are made to be loved and things are made to be used. But in today's world, people are being used and things are being loved. In a society where some patients are given the right to opt out of life, no patient will feel comfortable to continue to live." Catholic nun Sister Annunciata too vehemently opposed mercy killing. "We cannot give life to a person and hence we cannot take away life. Problems like property inheritance can also lead to euthanasia." Euthanasia is a threat to God-given life. Man is not the author of life. Life is sacred, protect it, says Father Cyril, a newly ordained priest of Bangalore Diocese. Another doctor, Joseph Xavier, says that it is very easy to push a suffering patient into depression and make him/ her seek death. "Anyone can take advantage of this and be rid of someone. Euthanasia should not ever be legalised. Deccan Herald carried an article on suicidal tendency in long-suffering hostages -- Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt is a case in point," he said. Bobby Raham, an income tax department employee, also hit out at the government's move to legalise mercy killing. "Euthanasia by any means cannot be allowed. Life is given by God and He alone has the right to take it. I strongly reject this move." "I understand the tremendous pain the terminally ill patients and their close ones suffer. However, that doesn't justify a national policy for euthanasia. Instead, the State should provide for the care of such people and help them believe that their life is precious even at that moment. We cannot play God, says Sunil Thomas, a Catholic youth. For Catholic priest Father Clement, when a patient suffers, he or she doesn't suffer alone. "We suffer in solidarity with Christ. Man cannot play God." It (euthanasia) should not be made legal because killing is always wrong, says Falu Dafa practitioner Depaak. "If a law on mercy killing is passed, then it would allow wrong people to misuse it and increase crime," he told SAR News. * * * Council Condemns Attacks On Christians in Orissa By SAR NEWS NEW DELHI/ BANGALORE (SAR NEWS) -- The Global Council of Indian Christian (GCIC) has condemned the continued attacks on Christians in Orissa. GCIC president Sajan George told SAR News July 9 that the attacks on Christians in Orissa by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had exposed the state government's inability to provide security and safety for the Christians. George, who held a hunger strike in New Delhi in March this year along with 150 victims of the violence, said that the assurances given by the Central and the state governments had failed to yield any result. The perpetrators of violence were moving around freely in Orissa causing communal disharmony in the eastern part of the country, he added. On July 8, the hate-mongers struck again. This time, it was reportedly the associates of Swami Laxmanand Saraswati, a local Hindu priest. The target: a Jesuit residence at Tumudibandh Block of Kandhamal District. The miscreants pulled down the main gate and vandalised statues of Mother Mary and St. Ignatius. They also damaged a refrigerator, furniture and household things, and looted three living rooms. Bhagvan Ashram, an orphanage run by a Christian, was also attacked. The children of the orphanage are on the street, according to GCIC. "Had the Central and the State governments acted promptly and arrested the culprits of the carnage during Christmas 2007, this kind of destruction would have been avoided," George said. He said after several meetings and representations at various levels to protect the Christians in Orissa, nothing had been done neither by the Central nor the state government to give a sense of security to the Christians. He said the Global Council of India was committed to fight for the rights of those persecuted for their faith. He also assured the victims of violence that GCIC would continue to raise its voice against forces that are "working night and day to destroy the secular nature of the country".
