Bid To Grab Prime Church Property Foiled By SAR NEWS
KANPUR, Uttar Pradesh (SAR NEWS) -- A desperate attempt by a self-styled prelate to grab the properties of the Church of North India (CNI) worth several crores of rupees has been foiled. The perpetrators are Samuel Prakash, the self-styled bishop of the Anglican Church in India, and Liaqat Khan, his son-in-law. The CNI is the successor in interest of the erstwhile Anglican Church, which had later become the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon. When the Churches amalgamated on November 29, 1970 to form the CNI, the Anglican Church in India and its various offshoots ceased to exist. However, Prakash and Khan allegedly claimed that the Anglican Church still existed, and that they were its authorised representatives. On the basis of some fabricated documents, they claimed the ownership of vast properties and institutions of the CNI spread over different parts of Uttar Pradesh, and even tried to surreptitiously dispose some of them. Matters came to a head when the duo tried to take over the management and control of the prestigious Christ Church College in Kanpur. Claiming to be office-bearers of the college society, they entered the college on a Sunday, broke open the principal’s office, and enthroned Dr. Philomena Richards, a disgruntled member of the college staff, as the principal. They even put their own locks to several other rooms of the college. On coming to know of this, Dr. Pervez Dean, the college principal, immediately had the locks removed and restored the status quo ante. However, Richards kept making claims in the media that the she was the real principal. The entire episode severely impacted the clean image of the college in the eyes of the general public. To counter this false propaganda, and to redeem the image of the college, a press conference was held in the college on August 7, presided over by the bishop S.R. Cutting of the CNI diocese of Agra. Also present were the college principal, and the governing body workers of the college. They unequivocally stated that Samuel Prakash and Liaqat Khan were criminals with no locus standi, who were desperate to grab the properties of the CNI. The governing body of the college also suspended Philomena Richards, and another faculty member who had participated in the aborted takeover of the college. With the suspension of the errant staff, the college is expected to return to normalcy.
