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President to open Jesuits' global meet amid RSS protest >From Indo-Asian News Service Kolkata, Jan 19 (IANS) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will inaugurate here Tuesday a global meet of the alumni of Jesuit institutions. The meet, to be held between January 21 and 24 at the St. Xavier's College, will see around 100 former students of Jesuit-run institutions from 14 countries with 500 Indian delegates. The conference will see delegates from Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, China, Cambodia, Nigeria Bhutan, Nepal besides India. According to the former Indian Army chief, General Shankar Roychowdhury, a moving force behind the sixth such global meet, the four-day conclave will be a platform for the alumni to network for a greater social cause. "The summit aims at finding a way of improving life. The participants will deliberate on vital issues like education, business initiative, women's empowerment and environment," said Roychowdhury, an alumnus of St. Xavier's College. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is protesting Kalam's plans to inaugurate the meet. The organisation described the president's decision to involve with "Jesuits who decimate all those who do not follow the Roman Catholic religion" as "unfortunate." RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan's remarks had been widely condemned as the "undiluted animosity of the organisation (RSS) against minorities." "His (Sudarshan's) provocative statements have brought the office of the president into the controversy," said a statement of the All-India Christian Council. Roychowdhury said that the Jesuit alumni summit was a "secular meet." President Kalam is himself part of the Jesuit fraternity, having received part of his education at the St. Joseph's College in Tiruchirapalli. --Indo-Asian News Service
