INDIA Priest says Hindus, Muslims must end provocations August 20, 2009 | IB07781.1563 | 486 words Text size
MANGALORE, India (UCAN) -- A Catholic priest engaged in interreligious dialogue has voiced serious concerns about religiously provocative incidents that have taken place in the Hindu and Muslim communities in Karnataka state. "Desecrating Hindu and Muslim religious places has been going on for some time" in the southern Indian state, says Father John Fernandes, who manages Samanwaya (harmony), an inter-religious movement in Mangalore, a costal town. "The latest in the series of acts has been the expulsion of a Muslim girl student from a Hindu-managed college near Mangalore for wearing a headscarf," said Father Fernandes who chairs the department of Christian Studies in Mangalore University. In that case, some Hindu students demanded permission to wear saffron shawls if the college allowed the girl to wear a headscarf. The principal finally expelled the Muslim girl. In another incident on Aug. 15, India's Independence Day, a rumor spread that a cow's head had been found inside a prominent Hindu temple in Mangalore. Hindus consider the cow a sacred animal. Father Fernandes said that in reality there was only a bone fragment brought in by either a stray dog or someone with vested interests in sowing discord. However, after the rumor spread, Hindu groups surrounded the temple and threatened to create trouble if the culprits were not arrested. The following day, a pig's head was placed inside a mosque in Mandya, a town near Mysore that has experienced communal tensions. Similar actions had led to sectarian violence in several towns in the state this year, the priest said. "These are all unfortunate incidents that lead to communal tension in the state," Father Fernandes told UCA News Aug. 20 after he appealed to the two warring communities to maintain peace. The priest said some groups want to divide Muslims and Hindus in the state to consolidate Hindu votes. Karnataka has nearly 53 million people, 83.9 percent of whom are Hindu. Muslims constitute about 12 percent while Christians make up less than 2 percent. "It is high time people realized the vested elements' real motive and kept cool," Father Fernandes remarked. He says minority groups are aware of Hindu radicals' motives and have so far refused to be provoked. Father John Fernandes also accused the state government of corrupting young minds. He noted that after last year's terrorist attack in Mumbai, western India, the Karnataka government organized college students in fighting against terrorism that eventually turned out to be a movement to isolate and attack Muslims. "Now young minds are polluted with sectarian sentiments, a trend that is dangerous to the core," the 73-year-old priest noted. Father Fernandes said his efforts to foster sectarian harmony and peaceful coexistence in colleges also received a setback after the Karnataka government started promoting the Hindu nation theory among students. Though there are efforts to forge communal harmony in many colleges, "we are not able to change the mindset of those who really want to create trouble," he said. http://www.ucanews.com/2009/08/20/priest-says-hindus-muslims-must-end-provocations/
