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  • Archbishop asks Indian state government to return Christ statue to cemetery

    Archbishop asks Indian state government to return Christ statue to cemetery

    CBCPNews,

    “It is a blow to the communal harmony of the people in our villages and also violation of the religious freedom guaranteed to us by the Indian Constitution.” The 12 foot tall statue was taken down March 3 from Mahima Betta cemetery in Doddasagarahalli, more than 30 miles north of Bangalore in India’s Karnataka state. According to Archbishop Machado, Christians have been making devotions at the cemetery “for the last 30 to 40 years without any difficulty,” and “there is absolutely no problem from local people to our burials, nor our prayers and devotions on the hill.” He noted that for the past week or so “some people from outside have been creating tensions by spreading wrong rumors that the place is used for conversion, which is completely far from the truth.” “The local villagers have publicly said that the presence of Christians and their prayers are absolutely no problem for them and, this being the case, why should some outsiders come and disturb the harmony of the village,” the archbishop asked. He suggested that the government investigate the allegations of “forceful conversion,” but that “it will not bring credit to the Government and to the local authorities to unnecessarily interfere in the religious tenets and practices of Christians by yielding to the pressure of some groups.” The archbishop said Christians love peace, “obey the rules of the country”, and “render their selfless service to the nation in the best possible ways, irrespective of caste, color or religion.” “The Christians of Bangalore consider the forceful removal of the statue of Lord Jesus at our legally allotted burial ground at Doddasagarahalli as unacceptable and are greatly shocked and we condemn this high –handed action of the local authorities.” He asked that the Christ statue “be reinstalled immediately,” and urged that the Karnataka government “instruct the local authorities to do this redressal act immediately.” “We request the authorities to take action against the perpetrators of such acts that have pained the community,” he added.