Sub - Pls stop demolition of Crosses in Mumbai Dear E-mail Friends and Family,
Pls forward. Pls help. Pls pray that the Cong-I Government, led by Madame Sonia Gandhi does not demolish the Crosses that were there from Pre-Independence time, as per the "Demolition Notices" which were served to all the Crosses in Maharashtra, a few days ago. The Bombay Catholic Sabha,Mumbai, invites every Catholic, both young and old to bring your Home crosses and meet at H(W) Ward Office, BMC office,Hill Road, Bandra(w), Mumbai - 400 0050, at 9.45am, on Monday, 28th February, 2011, regarding Demolition Notices on Crosses. Pls attend in large numbers and support The Bombay Catholic Sabha. Regards, Jane Rodrigues ==================================================== 48-HOUR DEADLINE UPSETS COMMUNITY Fresh demolition notices on crosses TIMES NEWS NETWORK Mumbai: Fresh demolition notices pasted by the BMC on several crosses across the city on Saturday drew a sharp reaction from the Christian community.Around 400 Bandra residents gathered on Chapel Road in Bandra (W) in the evening to protest against the notices,prompting cops to rush there. The notices are part of the ongoing BMC drive against illegal places of worship,including temples and mosques.The show-cause notices are being sent to 729 illegal shrines which are obstructing projects like road- widening or affect vehicular traffic or are located on public land.They will be demolished, said a senior civic official.He added that structures built before 1964 (the cutoff year for such structures) would not be touched.The caretaker or owner of the religious structure would have to submit related documents to the ward office concerned, he added. Members of the Christian community said that the crosses were historic and relevant documents had been submitted in 2003 when the issue came up for the first time.They added that giving them only 48 hours to respond was unjust.These 48 hours will be up on Monday morning.We cant present our case afresh in this time frame, said advocate Godfrey Pimenta,vice-president of Bombay East Indian Association. The drive comes after the Supreme Court issued directives in an interim order on December 7,2009.The state government,on October 4,2010,issued a notification asking all municipal bodies to take action on illegal shrines and submit a compliance report.The BMC began its action in November 2010 by conducting a ward-wise survey of illegal shrines.The survey is now completed and the number of such shrines is fixed at 729. Gordon DSouza,president of the Bombay Catholic Sabha,said,Some of the crosses even have marble inscriptions and date back to 1915 or 1916.These were built to safeguard the villages from plague. Father Warner DSouza,assistant parish priest of Bandras Mount Carmel Church said the BMC wouldnt be allowed to touch the crosses.It should have first looked at the documents we submitted.We will meet corporators and BMC officials on Monday and seek an apology, he said.
