Advani meets church leaders, condemns Orissa nun’s rape
NEW DELHI: BJP leader LK Advani on Wednesday met a group of church leaders and strongly condemned the violence against Christians, a move seen as damage-control in the backdrop of increasing demands to ban the Bajrang Dal.
Throughout the two-hour long meeting, Advani refrained from criticising the Bajrang Dal by name, but the church leaders came away feeling that a beginning had been made. “At least we managed to issue a joint statement this time, unlike the last time when we met VHP leaders in Orissa,” said Rev Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, who met Advani along with the Archbishops of Delhi and Orissa.
Advani sought to distance the BJP from the communal attacks. He called the rape of a nun in Orissa “a shameful crime against humanity,” said BJP Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra, who was also present at the meeting.
Another party leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the anti-Christian violence in Orissa and Karnataka were “nationally embarrassing” for the BJP but the party was helpless to reign in the Bajrang Dal as it was beyond anyone’s control.
Interestingly, Rev Emmanuel said he was against banning the Bajrang Dal. He said it would not make any difference as the organisation can simply change its name and continue its activities. “It’s more important to take immediate action those responsible for the violence,” he said.
Advani reportedly told them that the BJP was committed to working towards peace and would use its influence with the BJD government in Orissa and its own government in Karnataka to see that violence stops.
The joint statement made three points. One was a call to “restore peace, normalcy and a sense of security in strife-torn areas with the cooperation of the governments concerned and the leaders of the Hindu and Christian communities”.
The second was an agreement to start a “sustained and sincere inter-faith dialogue” that would discuss among other issues, the question of conversion, which is the main bone of contention between the Sangh Parivar and the Church.
The third was an offer from Swami Chidanand Saraswati, who facilitated Wednesday’s meeting, to rebuild one of the destroyed villages in Kandhamal.
a_jerath@dnaindia.net
