'Hindu-Christian dialogue' proposed

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, APRIL 30. The National Commission for Minorities will shortly host in Kerala a `dialogue between spiritual leaders' of Christians and Hindus to smoothen out the suspicion and fear of Christians following the recent attacks on clergymen and nuns in North India. This would be the first of a series of such dialogues planned in a few States to remove mutual mistrust and apprehensions between sections of the majority and minority communities, the commission's vice-chairman, Mr. Tarlochan Singh, told a press conference here on Sunday.

The Kerala dialogue would be followed up with ones in Orissa, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Mr. Singh, who toured Kerala in the past two days along with Mr. John Joseph, a member of the commission, found that

Christians in Kerala nursed `hurt feelings' over the attacks. He felt that the community, fed with exaggerated versions of the attacks by the media, had outlandish apprehensions about the Hindu fanatical fringes.

Mr. Singh blamed the media for overplaying the attacks and for finding a communal angle in every incident involving Christians. He wanted the media to double-check and counter-check every rumour or hearsay about communal attacks.

He said the commission had probed the four recent attacks on Christians in North India, like the ones in Mathura and Kosikala, and found that none of these was part of a communal plot. He claimed that all these incidents were just `law and order problems' and that one of them was a sheer case of robbery. Mr. Singh said there was an urgent need for holding a dialogue between the religious leaders of Hindus and Christians to remove the misplaced apprehensions and mistrust. The commission would provide the platform for frank discussions. The apprehensions in the minds of a section of Hindus about conversion to Christianity also needed to be removed and the dialogues would offer the opportunity.

Mr. John Joseph said he had visited the places in North India where Christians were attacked recently and that he was convinced they were not part of any organised violence against the community.

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Section  : Regional
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