By Matters India Reporter
Jaipur: A seminar on “Responsible citizenship of India” stressed the need to safeguard the country’s Constitution, which the participants noted was the result of a long struggle for freedom.
“It is the Constitution that made us citizens breaking the unjust bonds of slavery and being ruled by various rulers and colonialism,” Reverend Abraham Mathew, executive secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), told the September 26 seminar at Jaipur, capital of the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Reverend Mathew spoke about the Constitution of India, its values and the struggle of people today. “With much struggle, India has achieved its freedom. Its sovereignty needs to be safeguarded,” he asserted.
“As responsible citizens, we need to stand up and raise our voices if any attempt is made to destroy its true nature as a republic. We need to work together,” Reverend Mathew added.
Bishops, priests and lay people from various Christian Churches attended the seminar organized by NCCI to find ways to create responsible citizens in India.
Around 85 people, including three bishops, attended the seminar on “Responsible citizenship in India.
The program started with prayer by Divine Word Father John Paul, the ecumenism and dialogue in charge of the Jaipur Catholic diocese.
Catholic Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur welcomed the participants.
Jaiwant Patankar, a lawyer, an advocate, spoke about freedom of religion laws explaining them and how to refer to them when faced with atrocities.
He spoke on various laws such as anti-conversion law, freedom of religion act, Indian Penal Code, First Information Report and Right to Information Act saying that in today’s context it is necessary to be aware of them for self-protection.