Karnataka, Hindu radicals against Catholic school: Do not "Christianize" the uniform
Mumbai
(AsiaNews) - "A shameful and
senseless dispute, fueled by rogue
elements who hope to obtain political consensus," says
Sajan K George,
president of the Global
Council of
Indian Christians (GCIC), commenting to AsiaNews on theepisode involving the Syro-Malabar
Catholic school, Mariambika English School, in the
village of Indabettu (Karnataka),
accused of having "Christianized"
school uniforms, although many of its students are of other religions.
It all began on September 2, when
some parents - including
members of radical Hindu groups
- have complained to the school authorities over the new logos for t-shirts,
belts and ID cards, which contained the
symbol of the crucifix. The
situation quickly degenerated,
and the next day a crowd of people
- mostly Hindu -
organized a demonstration outside the
institution. Due to the increasing tension, the Belthangady police intervened to bring
the situation under control. The
parents agreed to leave only after the school staff agreed to temporarily withdraw the new uniforms.
"The school logo - Sajan George tells AsiaNews - is a caricature of Mary, which is the
vernacular name of the Institution itself and this logo was on the School
Uniforms. The belts etc.
carried a logo, which had a small cross".
According to the president of the GCIC,
the episode was orchestrated by "the
ultra-nationalist Hindu groups, who want to create distrust and disharmony
among the different communities. Christian
schools are among the most
respected for the quality of
education they impart. A demonstration of this, is the fact that
Christian students are a minority
in our institutes, which welcome a significant number of Hindu and Muslim pupils".
Moreover, notes Sajan
George, "Mary is revered by all Indians, irrespective of their religion. Many non-Christians make
pilgrimages to Marian shrines, and
this makes what happened even more
shocking". (NC)
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20/02/2019 09:59
