Says Modi as PM will curb freedom of religion
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Exhorting Goans to awake before it is too late,
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit priest, Fr Cedric Prakash on Wednesday said that
Narendra Modi would bring the entire country under the draconian
anti-conversion law, curbing freedom of religion guaranteed under the
Indian Constitution if he becomes the Prime Minister.
“In 2003, Narendra Modi passed the draconian anti-conversion law.
The law mandates any person to seek permission of the district Collector
to change one’s religion. The law has put innumerable hurdles, curbing
their right to religious freedom. If Modi becomes the
Prime Minister, he would bring the entire country under the
draconian law,” Fr Cedric said, while addressing a meeting organised by
the Catholic Association of Goa at the Grace Church hall, Margao.
He termed as a big lie the Gujarat Government’s claim on
development saying the social indicators points towards dismal
performance.
Fr Cedric Prakash sj, who is the director of Prashant, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, said
the divisive force talk about the Hindu state and Hindu nation when the
people of India through the Indian Constitution has opted for secular
state, wherein every single religion is accepted and respected as per
the Constitution. He appealed to Goans not to be fooled or carried out
by the ideology of those who rule Gujarat, while recalling how beef
traders in Goa were forced to close down their shutters.
He urged the people of Goa to vote with their conscience and vote
for what is right. “We have to tackle corruption in the system. We have
to stand up for truth and justice,” he said.
Fr Cedric took a dig at the media for creating hype around Modi
saying the media has compromised on the principles. “The voice of the
media has been throttled and muzzled. People in Gujarat are living in
fear. IAS officers are living in fear. The lives of their families have
been ruined,” he claimed. “We should not fear anyone and at anytime.
Jesus says fear no one. I am not a politician. I don’t subscribe to any
politician or the parties. I will go and vote as per my conscience,” he
said.
When the media later asked Fr Cedric what message he was giving to
Goans when he asked them to be awake before it is too late, he said
Goans should join the main stream politics and take active part in what
is happening around.
The meeting later adopted resolutions to uphold the secular
traditional and maintain the secular nature of the country, that the
candidate should ensure that the minority commission is set up in the
state and to ensure autonomy for the minority run education
institutions.
Anxious moments at meet venue
MARGAO: The presence of the election officials and police at the
Grace Church hall gave some anxious moments as their presence was
strongly objected by the organisers on grounds the meeting was a private
affair.
Members of the Catholic Association of Goa vehemently objected to
the presence of the election officials and police when the latter
insisted on the video filming of the meeting. The Association maintained
that the meeting is a private meeting held in a private hall and was
not attended by any candidate contesting the election.
When activist Jose Marie Miranda spoke to Deputy Collector Sangeeta
Naik over the telephone, she maintained that there was a complaint that
the meeting was being held to intimidate the voters. “I questioned the
deputy collector what sort of intimidation was she talking about when
the meeting was not a political one when the code of conduct applies to
political parties and the candidates,” he said, while asserting that the
election officials and the police were curbing the freedom to hold the
meeting.
It was only after Miranda spoke to the District Collector Mihir
Vardhan that the police and election officials left the venue, but not
before their presence intimidated the people who wanted to hear the
Ahmedabad-based priest, Fr Cedric Prakash.
http://heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/Gujarat-priest-sounds-a-wake-up-call-for-Goans/86724.html
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