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Tamil Nadu
By P. Sudhakar
But the brief meeting failed to break the ice, as the bishop reportedly stuck to his one point demand — Repeal of the `Prevention of Forcible Conversion Act 2002'. The bishop, sources said, was invited for the meeting, before the end of her campaign in the Sattankulam constituency, to bring about a rapprochement. Though it was fixed for 3 p.m., Rev. Jayapaul David, "due to his stiff schedule'', could reach the guest house only at 4.45 p.m. As Ms. Jayalalithaa was about to leave the place for her penultimate day electioneering, the meeting was held for a few minutes. "As Rev. Jayapaul David handed over the memorandum, the Chief Minister just said she would look into the issue, and received it from the bishop, who explained the ambiguity of the Act and its adverse impact on conversions at the time of marriages'' according to a church source. In the memorandum, the CSI bishop stated the Act was out of context in the State, which was noted at the national level for its rational and progressive policies nurtured by self-respect movements, patronised by stalwarts like E.V.R. Periyar, the former Chief Minister, C. N. Annadurai, Thiru.Vi.Ka. and a galaxy of eminent leaders. "Every Christian denomination leader was served with a personal letter signed by the present Chief Minister (Ms. Jayalalithaa), before the 2001 elections, assuring a better deal to minorities and hence the minority leaders demand that the Chief Minister withdraw the Act,'' the memorandum said. Earlier, a delegation of CSI pastors called on the Chief Minister. Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports: An AIADMK release from the party headquarters in Chennai said the CSI delegation, led by bishop Jayapaul David, extended its good wishes to the party candidate, L. Neelamegavarnam, for his victory in the byelection, when it called on Ms. Jayalalithaa and she expressed happiness over the meeting.
Minister's rejoinder
With reference to a report published in these columns on February 18, `Vote AIADMK, win preference', the PWD Minister, O. Paneerselvam writes: "Our beloved leader dealt with the entire rationale behind the law enacted to ban forcible conversions, specifically referring to the law and explained at length that this law is not directed against any particular religion, particularly not any minority religion, but was enacted to prevent the use of fraudulent means, allurement and force in enticing poor gullible people into changing their religious denomination against their will. While this is so, the impression given by your reporter that there is widespread fear and resentment over the law, which our beloved leader was trying to dispel by making indirect references is totally mischievous, misconceived and highly biased reporting, by making it appear as though our beloved leader skirted the issue by not referring to it directly. Our beloved leader has always stood by her convictions and principles, which she explained in great detail to the people, to allay any doubts and fears caused by disinformation being spread by many Opposition leaders to denigrate our party before the electorate, using religion as a ploy".
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