Kannada Christians plan dharna before Archbishop's residence

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 22. The Karnataka Catholic Christians' Kannada Association has decided to stage a dharna before the residence of the Archbishop of Bangalore, Rev. Ignatius Pinto, on Christmas Day demanding that he recommend that Kannadiga Archbishops be appointed as promised by Cardinal Joseph Tomco of the Vatican.

Mr. J.A. Royal and Mr. J. R. Pereira, President and Vice- President of the association, respectively, told presspersons here today that a number of pro-Kannada organisations and leaders, including the Kannada Shakti Kendra, the Dr. Rajkumar Fans' Association and Prof. M. Chidananda Murthy, Prof. Chandrashekhar Patil, Dr. P.V. Narayana and Mr. Samiullah Khan, had extended their support to the association. They also would participate in the dharna.

The association had been fighting to ensure that due importance was given to Kannada churches in the State, in accordance with the norms stipulated by the Vatican, for the past three decades. The Vatican had clearly stated that regional languages should be given due importance and candidates from the region considered while making appointments to vital posts such as Archbishop. Despite repeated requests, only Mangalore-based Konkani Christians were being appointed to top positions in the Church and Kannada Christians were being ignored, they charged.

When Cardinal Joseph Tomco came to Bangalore in September 2000, the office-bearers of the association had met him and explained the plight of Kannada Christians. He assured that deserving persons whose mother tongue was Kannada would be appointed Archbishop of Bangalore. The Vatican should honour its promise as "the association has lost faith in Rev. Pinto who is a Konkani Christian and has been exhibiting a vindictive attitude to Kannada Christians. The seven cases he filed against Kannada Christians reflect his parochial interests which are against the spirit of Christianity," they said. The High Priest, Rev. T. Jabamalai, was mainly responsible for the plight of Kannada Christians, they alleged.

There were four regional seminaries in Tamil Nadu, three in Andhra Pradesh and seven in Kerala. But a regional seminary was yet to be established in Karnataka. The St. Peter's Seminary in Malleswaram here should be accorded the status of a Kannada Regional Seminary, they said.

Observing a dharna on Christmas Day was inappropriate, but it had become inevitable as "Kannada Christians are being crucified", they said.

The Kannada Shakti Kendra President, Dr. M. Chidananda Murthy, said that a delegation of non-Christian Kannadigas headed by him, had held talks with a committee of Archbishops which visited Bangalore in the recent past. Initially, the committee had been reluctant to talk to a non-Christian delegation, but it had relented. The committee had promised that the Vatican would redress the grievances of Kannada Christians. But even after two years the situation had not changed. Matters would get out of hand if Kannada Christians were not given their due, he added.

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