Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Lok Sabha furore over attack on Christian Outfit

LS furore over attack on Christian outfit
New Delhi, PTI:

The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed a furore over an attack on Emanuel Mission, a Christian organisation working in Rajasthan, allegedly by Sangh Parivar activists with CPI (M) and BJP members trading charges, forcing adjournment of the House for 40 minutes.

The issue came up during Zero Hour as CPM member Suresh Kurup alleged that the Sangh Parivar outfits had unleashed a "systematic hate campaign" against the Mission which was carrying out philanthropic work and running schools in the state.

Mr Kurup alleged that the BJP Government in Rajasthan had failed to take action to check Sangh Parivar groups.

Provoked by the charges, BJP members, including their Deputy Leader V K Malhotra and Srichand Kripalani, hit back and accused the Mission of denigrating Hindu Gods in a book published by it. Despite warnings by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee against waving the book and appeals to the two sides to maintain calm, the furore continued forcing him to adjourn the House.

The Left members also sought a statement on the issue from Home Minister Shivraj Patil who was present in the House.

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Attacks on Christians echo in Lok Sabha
From our correspondent

15 March 2006

JAIPUR - Attacks on a Christian organisation in Rajasthan allegedly by radical Hindu activists reverberated in Lok Sabha, forcing adjournment of the House for 40 minutes as Communist Party of India (Marxist) and BJP members traded charges.

The issue came up on Monday during Zero Hour as CPM member Suresh Kurup alleged that the Hindu outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had unleashed a 'systematic hate campaign' against the Emanuel Mission International which was carrying out social work and running schools in the state.

Kurup alleged that the BJP government in Rajasthan had failed to take appropriate action to check radical Hindu groups.

Provoked by the charges, BJP members, including their deputy leader V.K. Malhotra and Srichand Kripalani, hit back and accused the Mission of denigrating Hindu deities in a book published by it.

Despite warnings by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee against waiving the book and appeals to the two sides to maintain calm, the furore continued forcing him to adjourn the House.

A five-member delegation of members of parliament from CPM had recently toured Kota on a fact-finding mission and said that attacks on Christian institutions in Rajasthan by the radical Hindu organisations were 'unprovoked'.

The Communist MPs in New Delhi called on Home (Interior) Minister Shivraj Patil, who assured them that the Central government would take appropriate steps to protect Christian institutions.

Patil said the central government would take steps to revive the bank accounts of Emanuel Mission International that were frozen by the Rajasthan government.

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Lok Sabha adjourned over Christian attacks

Monday, March 13, 2006 03:52:05 pm

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha was on Monday abruptly adjourned after protests over alleged attacks on a Christian mission in Rajasthan.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the house after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members protested when Left MPs raised the issue during zero hour. The BJP is in power in Rajasthan.

Suresh Kurup of the Communist Party of India-Marxist said five of his colleagues had visited Kota in Rajasthan and found there has been a systematic campaign against the Emanuel Mission Institution there for the last three weeks.

According to Kurup, the state government had frozen the mission's bank accounts, resulting in a shortage of food for the children lodged there.

But the BJP MPs protested against the remark, and Chatterjee adjourned the house after his repeated pleas to restore order were ignored.

The mission runs orphanages all across Rajasthan.

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