Being unfamiliar with the politics in Kerala, I wonder if there is someone on this list who will be able to comment on the points made in this editorial.
Best regards, U G Barad Church sets the agenda Author: Editorial Publication: The Pioneer Date: December 15, 2010 URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/303736/Church-sets-the-agenda.html Will Left eat humble pie for votes? The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council has announced that the Church will not pardon the CPI(M)-led ruling Left Democratic Front in the State unless and until the Government and the Marxists change their attitude towards institutions run by the clergy. With this, the efforts of the CPI(M) to make peace with the powerful Catholic Church, whose antagonistic stand had contributed heavily to the LDF's rout in last year's Lok Sabha election and the recent civic polls, have failed miserably. Even the placatory clarification issued by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has failed to win over the Church and its followers. The Catholic Bishops' Council has a major demand on its agenda: It wants the CPI(M)-led Government to abandon its perceived move aimed at controlling the professional colleges run by Christian managements. The Church also wants the Left leaders to cease their tirade against the senior clergy. Apart from these issues, the Church has for long been demanding that the Marxists should recognise the importance of religious belief in social life, which it says the Communists, with their emphasis on the dialectics of materialism, fail to understand. The CPI(M), on its part, has been trying to re-establish its lost relationship with the Church with unprecedented urgency after its LDF ally, the CPI, made some overtures to the clergy with the intention of cashing in on the situation. However, a patch-up with the Church now seems impossible for the Marxists to attain before the Assembly election due in May 2011. The Marxists are worried that this attitude of the Church, coupled with the anti-incumbency sentiment and estrangement of majority of Muslims and several of its earlier allies from the LDF in the past two years, could lead to a stunning setback for the Left in the Assembly election. However, doubts are now being expressed by several sections that the Catholic Church is perhaps trying to dictate terms to the political parties and it is refusing to honour the general sentiment of the Keralites on several crucial issues. The suspension of Prof TJ Joseph, the victim of a Taliban-like Islamist attack, from service for preparing an allegedly blasphemous question paper, is one such issue. Prof Joseph was set upon by Islamist fanatics who chopped off one of his hands; that was meant to send out a stern message to all intellectuals. The suspension of the professor was condemned by various political parties, MG University to which his college is affiliated and the Kerala Government - not once, but several times. But the KCBC has been defending the college's action against the professor, saying he was sacked for not showing the "moral responsibility" to correct his mistake of hurting the sentiments of Muslims through the question paper. From the day of the suspension, the Congress has defended the action of the Church-run college's management, obviously to lure Christian voters and pander to Islamists in Kerala. Fears are now being expressed that the Congress's over-dependence on minority votes could create a situation where the UDF it leads would have to obey the commands of minority religious bodies and fanatics, even at the cost of infuriating other communities, if it comes to power next summer. If the CPI(M) is able to play this card effectively, it could well regain some of the ground it has lost. -- Goanetter Valmiki Faleiro's book 'Patriotism in Action: Goans In India's Defence Services' release on Dec 18, 2010 at 5.30 pm. Goa Chitra Museum, Benaulim. Available in Goa: Confidant/David&Co (Margao), Broadway, Literati, Other India-Mapusa, Sainik Coop, at Mumbai (David & Co), Pune (Manney's, Popular), Bangalore (Narayan), Delhi (Ritana).