New Delhi: India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has assured a Catholic delegation from Goa that he would press concerned authorities to bring to book those responsible for recent attacks on churches in Delhi.
Parrikar condemned the attacks but regretted that his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was unnecessarily going into defensive mode as regards the entire episode.
At least five Catholic churches in the national capital were vandalized since December 1, 2014.
Parrikar on Monday assured members from the Goa Catholic Welfare Union led by Dr Rufino Monteiro that he would personally meet federal Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and request him to bring to book the perpetrators of crime pertaining to vandalism of the churches as well as the police attacks on the protestors, in the national capital.
The Defense Minister also assured the delegation that he would talk to the Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, who earlier held the post of director general of Police in Goa to speed up the related investigation process.
“And then I would also be meeting the Archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto, in this connection,” he said.
“Everyone can easily see that the BJP is unnecessarily dragged into this controversy, for such a thing would have been suicidal to it in the face of Delhi election, if for argument sake, the party had any hand in it,” he said observing that there could very well be a political angle to this incident.
“The BJP has already made it clear that it does not support ‘Ghar Wapsi’, however, the party is still being blamed for the same,” the Defense Minister said, maintaining that such things have happened in states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, where some other political parties are in power.
“The BJP should not be politically blamed for the Delhi church incidents,” he reiterated.
Parrikar also said that prior to the February 7 assembly election in New Delhi, the national capital was totally under the control of the Election Commission of India, and the New Delhi police were following the orders of the Commission.
“We have to find out the reason for the police attacks on the people, who were protesting against the vandalisation of the churches,” he said.
The Defense Minister also assured the delegation that he would follow up the establishment of the Goa Commission for Minorities with the state government.
“Presently a related Bill is before the state legislative assembly,” he said.
The delegation also presented a memorandum to Parrikar, which said that some incidents in the recent past have hurt and alarmed the Catholics in Goa.
“They include vandalisation of churches in Delhi, refusal of entry visa by the central government to two Vatican dignitaries, who were supposed to deliver key-note address to the Indian Bishops at a meeting in Bengaluru, and the ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programs,” it added.
The memorandum also maintained that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected on the platform of good governance and development for all, and who had vouched for the Constitution as his Bible, is ominously silent over the incident, which adds to the insecurity of the Catholics, reports goacom.com.