Ghar Wapsi: Catholic Church asks PM to intervene

Ghar Wapsi: Catholic Church asks PM to intervene

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 30 January 2015 AT 10:21 PM IST

    

Ghar Wapsi, reactions, Catholic Church, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Catholics Bishops Conference of India, CBCI, Narendra Modi, intervention

Pune: The Catholic Church in the country has issued letters to all its dioceses, asking the Christians to be firm in their faith in the wake of ‘Ghar Wapsi’ campaign and also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene urgently to prevent incidents threatening unity of the secular nation.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of the Catholics Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country, has issued a pastoral letter, following a CBCI meeting held in New Delhi on January 20 to discuss the reconversion and other issues.

The CBCI chief has said, Christians in the country need an assurance from the government that they are protected, secure and safe in their motherland.

In his letter, Cardinal Cleemis said, “The untoward incidents in the country in past few months have wounded the sentiments of the minority community especially the Christian community and has shaken the faith in the secular fabric of our nation.”

“The Ghar Wapsi programmes, the ‘saffronisation’ of education and culture, and the demands for a Hindu Rashtra are again posing challenges to the secular ethos of our beloved country,” he added.

The pastoral letter has said, “Conversions of a religious nature are an exercise of one’s free will and one’s constitutional/fundamental right and freedom of conscience and of religion. Ghar Wapsi is a political process, carried out by the powerful exponents of religious nationalism - much against the principle of secularism.”

Christianity has roots in India for 2000 years
CBCI chief Cardinal Baselios Cleemis said that Christianity has its roots in Indian soil for almost 2000 years. Christians in the country have been selflessly serving the people in the fields of education and health care without any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion, he said. 

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Diago Almeida - Sunday, 1 February 2015 AT 07:49 PM IST

At last we are seeing the writing on the wall. Thanks the cbci chief for taking up strongly with the government. President Obama has already worned the country and it's politicians of the draw back.

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Poll war in national capital, Delhi

Poll war in national capital, Delhi

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Tuesday, 27 January 2015 AT 09:10 PM IST

    

Delhi Assembly polls, AAP, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi

The war for wresting power in Delhi state has finally began. In the earlier Delhi polls held last year, it was a triangular fight between the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP. Now it seems the AAP and the BJP are the main contestants and Congress has been relegated to the third position. What is most interesting is that two former comrades in the civic activists movement are now pitted each other. The BJP which had been attempting to put off the Delhi polls as long as possible has received a shot in the arm with Kiran Bedi joining its camp. The party will now have to contain the dissent among its senior leaders who fear they will have to play a second fiddle to the newcomer in the party.

I have had close association with Bedi when she was Deputy Superintendent of Police in Goa, looking after the traffic arrangement for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) retreat in Goa in 1983. Nearly 40 heads of Commonwealth states including Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Bob Hawke and others were to attend the retreat. As a reporter with the local daily 'The Navhind Times', I used to accompany her in a police Gypsy vehicle from Panaji to Fort Aquada for her rehearsals with she constantly instructing her subordinates on the walkie-talkie. That was the beginning of her career but that time too she was known as an upright and no-nonsense officer.

There has been indeed a strong reaction to Bedi's decision to join the BJP. Bedi was a forefront leader in the Anna Hazare Team and with her entry, BJP has dealt a heavy blow to the AAP. Bedi's past record as a dynamic IPS officer and her role in the Team Anna will be put to test in this political battle.

BJP's decision to declare her as the chief ministerial candidate has also exposed the party's lack of confidence in winning the prestigious polls with its own leaders.

The BJP and the Sangh Parivar will have to use all its strength and resources to do well in Delhi polls. Teams of civic activists from all parts of the nation have also been working for the AAP in Delhi much before the poll schedule was announced. It is a prestigious battle for both the camps.

It will be yet another test to check whether the Modi wave still exists. The previous year Delhi state polls were fought when there was an anti- incumbency wave against the 15-year-old Congress regime led by Sheila Dixit. Now it will be a fight between the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal with Bedi and BJP president Amit Shah leading BJP from the front. It will be one of the most interesting and bitterly fought contest in the national capital.

Goa celebrates canonisation of St Joseph Vaz

Goa celebrates canonisation of St Joseph Vaz

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 16 January 2015 AT 12:05 AM IST

    

Joseph Vaz

Panaji: The excitement at the ancestral house and sanctuary of St Joseph Vaz at Sancoale is palpable. Sancoale will celebrate the feast of St Joseph Vaz on Friday, for the first time after the son of the soil became the first Goan to be declared a saint.

Hundreds of people have been visiting the oratory of St Joseph Vaz and his sanctuary at Sancoale during the ongoing novena of the new saint.

The feast mass will be celebrated at St Joseph Vaz Sanctuary at 10 am on Friday, January 16. Goa, Daman and Diu Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao who attended the canonisation ceremony in Sri Lanka on Wednesday will be the main celebrant at the feast mass.

The feast day is celebrated on the death anniversary of the saint who had died at Kandy in Sri Lanka on January 16, 1711. St Joseph Vaz’ oratory room, the only remaining portion of his ancestral house in the village, is maintained by the nuns belonging to a local congregation, Holy Family of Nazareth. The nuns said that a large number of devotees have been visiting their convent to pray at the oratory room of the new saint.

Holy Family of Nazareth congregation’s Mother General Alivita along with a team of a nuns had gone to Sri Lanka to witness canonisation of Joseph Vaz.

The nun’s congregation also runs a school in Sancoale which is named after the new saint.

‘Canonisation of St Joseph Vaz a memorable event’

‘Canonisation of St Vaz a memorable event’

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Sunday, 18 January 2015 AT 11:36 PM IST

    

St Joseph Vaz, Canonisation of St Vaz

Pune: For Fr Denis Joseph, who was among the group of 15 Puneites who recently flew to Colombo, witnessing the canonisation of St Joseph Vaz and watching Pope Francis from up close was an exciting and memorable experience.

“At the canonisations ceremony, I was hardly two feet away from the Holy Father. He is so humble and has an infectious smile,” says Fr Joseph, Principal of St Joseph School in Ghorpadi. The canonisation ceremony of Goa-born missionary Joseph Vaz was held on January 14.

Fr Joseph said that over a million people from Sri Lanka, India and other parts of the world had assembled to witness the ceremony, presided over by the pope.

“The flags of Vatican City and Sri Lanka greeted the visitors on a nearly 100-km stretch of road leading to Colombo. It was such a wonderful experience,” he says.

“St Joseph Vaz, the only Goan to be declared a saint, has done tremendous work in Sri Lanka. During our short visit there, we could see the fruits of his hard work in the island nation,” Fr Joseph told Sakal Times.  “That is why St Joseph Vaz, the pride of Goa, was also described at the ceremony as a gem of Sri Lanka,” the  priest added.

No Indians among new cardinals

No Indians among new cardinals

Sakal Times Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 9 January 2015 AT 01:37 PM IST

    

Pune, Pope Francis, no Indians, 20 church officials , 15 archbishops , Camil Parkhe

Pune: There are no Indians among the 20 church officials whom Pope Francis elevated to the rank of cardinals on Sunday. This has certainly disappointed the local clergy and also the laity who expect a bigger share for the country in the international church hierarchy. 

Pope Francis announced names of 15 archbishops and bishops whom he will consecrate as cardinals on February 14. The pontiff  will also elevate five retired archbishops and bishops as cardinals in recognition of  their  “service of the Holy See and of the Church.”

Incidentally, 15 of the 20 new cardinals are below 80 years and thus eligible to join the conclave who will elect the pope’s successor.  They are from 14 countries and from every continent, symbolising the universal nature of the Church. Nonetheless, as in the past, among the 20 new ‘princes of the Church’, Europeans are the single largest group with seven including three Italians.

Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre said that India already has four cardinals at Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Ranchi and Ernakulam. The Holy See appoints cardinals as per the Catholic population proportion of the respective country and this may have been the main factor why no new cardinals have been appointed in India, he said.  

Diago Almeida, Chairman of the  Catholic Association of Poona, said that the Vatican should have elevated an Indian  bishop or archbishop as cardinal in view of the large Catholic population in the country. “Catholic population in India may be hardly 2.5 per cent but the Catholic Church has been doing impressive work in the country,” he said.

Disappointed-

Diago Almeida, Chairman of the  Catholic Association of Poona said, “The Vatican should have elevated an Indian  bishop or archbishop as cardinal in view of the large Catholic population in the country.”  

Antulay: Last Muslim CM in Maharashtra?

Antulay: Last Muslim CM in Maharashtra?

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Monday, 8 December 2014 AT 08:08 PM IST

    

Blog, Camil Parkhe, Abdul Rehman Antulay, Maharashtra, obituary, Last Muslim CM

For many people in Maharashtra who are now in the late 30s or 40s, the name of Abdul Rehman Antulay may immediately remind the cement scandal to which he was allegedly linked with. Antulay had to relinquish the chief minister's post due to this scandal. Although the Supreme Court later acquitted him  of the charges, Antulay had to pay heavy political price for this scandal as he was moved away from Maharashtra and rehabilitated in national politics. Elected to the Rajya Sabha, he also held the union minister's post two terms.

Antulay was one of the few prominent Muslim faces having pan-Maharashtra appeal and popularity among cross sections of society. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi surprised the powerful Maratha lobby in Maharashtra by appointing him as the state chief minister in 1980. During his short stint as the chief minister, Antulay earned the image as a non-nonsense politician, a leader who could take fast decisions and who had total control over the bureaucracy, some of the traits which he shared with S B Chavan, another politician hand-picked by Indira Gandhi to lead Maharashtra. Having full command over the party organisation, Indira Gandhi then could afford to appoint a leader of her choice – and too belonging to a minority community-  to head Maharashtra government. Indira Gandhi had earlier also selected Abdul Ghafoor as the chief minister of Bihar in 1973.

Antulay shifted fom his Colaba (Raigad) Lok Sabha seat where he was defeated in 2004 to contest from Aurangabad – a seat having a sizable Muslim electorates. But his presence in the election arena had helped the rival parties to polarise votes and Antulay was defeated here too. After this, even the Congress and NCP have been wary of fielding a Muslim or other minor candidates as it now amounts to giving a cakewalk to rival parties, barring the minority-dominated seats like Malegaon and Bhiwandi.

With the demise of Antulay, Muslims in Maharashtra and to some extent in India, have lost a leader to whom they could relate to and bank on representing their interests.

Vasantaro Naik, a member of the Banjara tribe, was chief minister of Maharashtra for a record 11 years. But that was four decades back.  As the political things stand today, it is unlikely that a Muslim or any minority leader  will occupy the chief minister's seat in Maharashtra or any other state in the country in the near future. Presently, there is no minority leader belonging to any mainstream political party who can truly claim to be mass leader or at least a minority leader having well connect to his/ her community. This is bad for the secular fabric of the nation. In the absence of such leadership and political parties ignoring minorities due to vote bank politics constrains, communal forces may be able to create their base among these communities. It is in the interest of the nation that all mainstream political parties give equal representation to all sections of communities, be it in civic bodies, at state or national levels. Antulay should not be the last  Muslim or  minority leader to be the chief minister of  a state in the country. 

Maharashtra needs governance

Maharashtra needs governance

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Sunday, 30 November 2014 AT 10:55 AM IST

    

Camil Parkhe, blog, BJP, Shiv Sena, seat sharing, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray

To the relief of people in Maharashtra, the BJP leadership has finally started negotiations with its estranged ally, the Shiv Sena, for sharing power in the state. This is expected to end the over a month-long period of political uncertainty in the state. The previous month had witnessed an unprecedented show of political opportunism and vendetta by some parties with total disregard to the interests of the state or the mandate given by the electorates in the recent state assembly elections.

The people's verdict was clearly against the 15-year-old regime of the Congress-NCP front government and largely in favour of the BJP, next followed by the Shiv Sena. Notwithstanding the inevitable political abuses and skirmishes during the hustings, it was expected that the BJP and Shiv Sena would once again come together to form the next government after the fractured poll verdict.

But the BJP fell prey to the shrewd game of unconditional support played by the Nationalist Congress Party and naively thought that it can do without Shiv Sena to form a stable government.

It took over a month for the BJP to know that the NCP's unconditional support will not be without any conditions. But as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself has admitted the BJP had to pay a very heavy price for surviving the trust motion with the support of the NCP. The sharp social media reactions indicated that many people who voted against the Congress-NCP front have not taken very kindly to the BJP's plans to provide a stable government with the NCP's support. It is another matter that those voters who gave the NCP 40 assembly seats may have also been shocked to see the party backing the BJP. Soon after the polls, the people in the state had to witness political ideologies and principles taking a back seat when it came to the politics of power.

What was worse that governance and administration have been totally ignored during the past few weeks with only 10 BJP ministers managing the show on an ad hoc basis. Perhaps this scenario could have lasted longer if the winter session of the state legislature was not so imminent.

It will be in the larger interest of the state that both the BJP and Shiv Sena keep aside their animosities and provide a stable coalition government at the earliest. Most important, both parties should shun outsmarting each other for the next five years. The people in the state have voted in favour of change, better and transparent governance. Their hopes should not be belied.