Archbishop of Gandhinagar, Gujarat must legally pursue his allegations of attacks on churches and Christians in Gujarat OR withdraw them
Shri Rajiv Malhotra's recent Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/RajivMalhotra.Official/photos/a.137731093046903.31225.137726233047389/954122378074433/, shares the Archbishop of Gandhinagar diocese in Gujarat letter shown below with Rajiv Malhotra commenting that as the Archbishop is taking sides in the Gujarat state elections, his church should be reclassified as a foreign political institution and not be given special treatment as a religious institution.
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I made the following comment in my Facebook share of the above post:
I would not go so far as Rajiv Malhotra.
But I think the Archbishop of Gandhinagar, Gujarat should provide details of such incidents of "attack on our churches, church personnel, faithful or institutions" in Gujarat. As the Archbishop he should ideally have played a role in police complaints being made for such incidents. So he should put out a report giving details of when such complaints were made and how the police reacted unsatisfactorily when such complaints were made.
Once that is done, I think the media should do a follow up on the matter and in an unbiased way, provide reporting on it. If respected media outlets support the claim of the Archbishop based on their media investigations of the matter, then I would support an effort to involve the Indian courts of law in the matter to ensure protection to Christians in Gujarat as per Indian law.
But, on the other hand, if the media reports and police reports indicate that that Archbishop's views are not based on fact and that he is sensationalizing the matter for some ulterior motives, then I think the Archbishop should be asked to either withdraw his allegations OR go to Gujarat High Court to prove his allegations (if the Archbishop claims that the media and police are biased against him). I mean, the Archbishop should not be allowed to play games of making such allegations against the Gujarat state government if he is not willing to prove his case in an Indian court of law.
As an Indian citizen and a social media writer, I fully support the right of Indian Christians to practice their faith peacefully and without fear, so long as they abide by the law of the land. And my considered view is that the Indian union/federal govt. led by PM Narendra Modi also holds the same view.
[To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]
I would not go so far as Rajiv Malhotra.
But I think the Archbishop of Gandhinagar, Gujarat should provide details of such incidents of "attack on our churches, church personnel, faithful or institutions" in Gujarat. As the Archbishop he should ideally have played a role in police complaints being made for such incidents. So he should put out a report giving details of when such complaints were made and how the police reacted unsatisfactorily when such complaints were made.
Once that is done, I think the media should do a follow up on the matter and in an unbiased way, provide reporting on it. If respected media outlets support the claim of the Archbishop based on their media investigations of the matter, then I would support an effort to involve the Indian courts of law in the matter to ensure protection to Christians in Gujarat as per Indian law.
But, on the other hand, if the media reports and police reports indicate that that Archbishop's views are not based on fact and that he is sensationalizing the matter for some ulterior motives, then I think the Archbishop should be asked to either withdraw his allegations OR go to Gujarat High Court to prove his allegations (if the Archbishop claims that the media and police are biased against him). I mean, the Archbishop should not be allowed to play games of making such allegations against the Gujarat state government if he is not willing to prove his case in an Indian court of law.
As an Indian citizen and a social media writer, I fully support the right of Indian Christians to practice their faith peacefully and without fear, so long as they abide by the law of the land. And my considered view is that the Indian union/federal govt. led by PM Narendra Modi also holds the same view.
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