Guwahati: The head of Salesians’ Guwahati province says the people of Assam are with the Catholic religious order that has been serving in the northeastern region in various ways for more than nine decades.
Guwahati, the commercial capital of Assam, on August 7 witnessed the desecration of a statue of Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesian congregation, that was to installed at a public place on that day.
The “unfortunate and unholy event” has saddened and shocked Christians and the Salesians throughout the world, says Fr V M Thomas, head of the Salesians Guwahati province.
The priest, who also heads India’s more than 140,000 Catholic religious men and women, asserts that the “evil deed” was done not by the people of Assam but by “a very small section” that now tries to make political mileage out of the whole issue. “The people of Assam are by and large with us,” Father Thomas said in an official statement describing the circumstances that led to the desecration.
He claims that despite the apparent polarization of opinions in the state about the incident, people continue to appreciate the Salesians for educating their young people through their numerous Don Bosco schools and reaching out to the downtrodden, marginalized and the school dropouts.
The Salesians came to Guwahati in 1922.
Fr Thomas also said the move to set up the statue in a public place to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Don Bosco has been stalled for the time being.
“Thank you for sharing our sorrow and embarrassment, thank you for your support and words of encouragement. We are sorry that this unfortunate event has been a cause of pain to the Christian community. Many of you have communicated to us your sadness,” the provincial wrote in the statement.
He said the province successfully organized other bicentenary programs. It held a youth rally, exhibition and various competitions on the same evening of the incident. The next day, about 1,000 teachers participated in a Bicentenary Educational Seminar where the chief guest was federal Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal.
The same evening some 1,800 people, comprising senior bureaucrats, dignitaries, social activists and others attended a musical evening by the famous Shillong Chamber Choir. The chief guest was Pradyut Bordoloi, Advisor to Chief Minister on Education and former Minister of Education, Power & Industry, Fr Thomas said.
The provincial explained that the province had been preparing for the bicentennial celebration for nearly one year. The celebration committee had got necessary government permissions to identify a suitable public place in Guwahati to install the Don Bosco’s statue. They first chose a traffic intersection adjacent to Nobin Bordoloi Hall (near Dighalipukhuri) for the purpose.
“However, when preparations were being made to install the statue, we came to know that this spot was already allotted for advertisements to a business unit of the Pratidin group of companies by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation. We negotiated with them unsuccessfully and apparently they organized a protest with the help of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP)” Fr Thomas explained.
ABVP or the All India Student Council, is a unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party that now heads the coalition government in New Delhi.
Fr Thomas said that various government officials then identified a spot on the bank of the Bharalu river that already houses several statues of public figures. “We too liked the place which was close to the sacred river Brahmaputra,” he added.
He said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had agreed to unveil the statue at 10 am on August 7.
“While the work was going on a few people came to object saying that it was a place reserved for the statues of freedom fighters, and that they would be approaching the government to stop the preparations. Some women’s group staged a protest carrying placards. The preparations went on with the full support of the District Administration which provided also security arrangements.”
Fr Thomas said he called an emergency meeting of heads of Don Bosco institutions in Guwahati to discuss whether they should go ahead with installation ceremony since the chief minister was not available for unveiling since he had to go to Delhi.
“Since the protest was assessed as minor which could be contained by the overwhelming support of the government, it was unanimously decided to go ahead with the installation and unveiling of the statue after receiving the advice of the Deputy Commissioner, Govt. officers, police and eminent citizens,” the statement noted.
“The work went on all through the night unobstructed. On August 7, at 6 a.m. the statue was taken to the spot and put on the pedestal. At 6.10 a.m. some people came to inquire casually about the statue, whether it was made of metal etc. Suddenly from nowhere about 100 people came from different directions and pushed it down from the pedestal and pushed it further into the river and the miscreants disappeared. The police on duty were unable to resist the miscreants.”
Fr Thomas said they immediately organized the retrieval of the statu3e which was partly damaged and took it back to the provincial house.
The provincial said although there was some protests over the installation the desecration of the statue was “totally unexpected and unpredictable.”
He says democratic protests in a peaceful and civilized manner would have resolved the problem. He termed as “unjustified” the violent protests and desecration of the statue
“It was later found out by the police that those involved were members of a particular political party who were keen on embarrassing the Assam government.’