கேரள கிறிஸ்துவர்களுக்குள் குழப்பம்

கேரள கம்யூனிஸ்ட் அரசுக்கும் கிறிஸ்துவ சர்ச்சுகளுக்கும் இடையே நடக்கும் சண்டையில் சாதாரண கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் எரிச்சலடைந்துவருகிறார்கள்.

கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச் நடத்தும் கல்வி நிறுவனங்களில் அரசாங்கம் கொடுக்கும் மாணவர்களையும் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற அரசாங்க கோரிக்கையை சர்ச் நிராகரிக்கிறது. சிறுபான்மை உரிமையில் கைவப்பதாகும் என்று பிஷப்புகள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.

அதற்காக "சிறுபான்மையினர் உரிமை"யை பாதுகாப்பதற்காக சாதாரண கிறிஸ்துவர்களை கூட்டம் கூட்டி போராட்டம் நடத்துகிறார்கள்.

காஞ்சிரப்பள்ளி பிஷப் அரக்கால் என்பவரும் பாரிஸ் அபுபக்கர் என்ற மோசடி பேர்வழியும் நெருங்கிய நண்பர்களாக இருப்பது கிறிஸ்துவர்களுக்கு எரிச்சலூட்டுகிறது. இந்த இருவருக்கும் எதிராக பேரணிகளில் கோஷம் எழுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது.

தீபிகா என்ற கிறிஸ்துவ பத்திரிக்கை பாரிஸ் அபுபக்கரிடம் விற்கப்பட்டது கிறிஸ்துவர்களை எரிச்சலடையச் செய்திருக்கிறது.

Church firm on anti-Govt campaign but irritants crop up
Pioneer News Service | Kochi

The Kerala Catholic Bishop's Conference had last week shown signs of a climb-down from its intransigence over the approach to the LDF Government by saying that the Church was ready for talks, but there are enough indications to prove that a ceasefire is unlikely to happen soon.

The rally organised by the Inter-Church Council in Kottayam on Sunday and the reported plan of the Church to constitute rights protection groups across the State to "save" the institutions owned by it from the Government move for "invasion" are indications of a protracted standoff between the church and the LDF Government. However, the whole-hearted unity of the entire community of Christian faithful is in doubt, if sources within the church are to be believed.

The KCBC, after a meeting here on Saturday last, had said that the conference's educational commission led by Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil, one of the most vocal clerics against the Government, would lead the discussions. However, sources within the Church said that discussions could continue but that did not necessitated a withdrawal of the agitations for the protection of minority rights.

The standoff between the Church and the Government is now more than one month old since the fiery speech delivered by Mar Andrews Thazhath. In the speech, he asked the laity to prepare for a second liberation struggle (on the lines of the first in 1957) to save the honour of minorities and the institutions owned by the Church.

Since then the Catholic Church and the LDF Government are at loggerheads over the admissions and fee structure of the minority run professional institutions, including medical and engineering colleges. The Church is also irked over the alleged move of the Government to give more powers to local administration bodies for more control over aided schools, which it describes as a calculated effort to control minority institutions.

That the clergy wants to take the agitation against the Government to furious levels forcing the Government to concede to its demands is amply clear from the speeches by various bishops and archbishops and the many pastoral letters read out so far at Sunday masses at Christian places of worship. But reports say that the initial fervour all this had created had undergone a transformation and the support for the call for liberation struggle is waning.

A sign of this was witnessed at Kottayam on Sunday when a section of the participants at the rally had shouted slogans against Deepika daily chairman M Faris Aboobacker and Kanjirappally Bishop Mathew Arackal, who is known to be a close to the former.

The issue of the transfer of ownership of Deepika newspaper, which had till recfently been the pride of each Christian in the State, has become an irritant in the plan for total agitation against the LDF Government. This irritant is of particular significance as there had already criticisms that the church heads were trying to whip up passion among the faithful on a non-issue as the Government had already explained that it did not want to curtail minority rights or had not decided to impose local administration bodies' control over the interests of the church of which the clergy was apprehensive.

The close rapport between the Kanjirappally Bishop and Faris Aboobacker is now being questioned the small shareholders of Deepika, who are suspicious about the actual deal behind the transfer of ownership of the paper. There is a section among the faithful that Faris had played some big-business game to take over the paper, to which knowingly or unknowingly Mar Arackal had become an accomplice. There are also allegations that when Faris is claiming that the takeover cost was Rs 20 crore, the actual cost had been not more than Rs 10 crore.

Though the laity is not all that appreciative of Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's description of Faris as a "hated" personality, his reference had indeed acted as a catalyst to the suspicion of the common faithful.