Bhopal, Aug. 28:
Shivraj Singh Chouhan thinks it’s a “better deal”. The Church says it’s just a ruse to meddle in its affairs.
A battle is on in
BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, where the Church and the Chouhan government
have locked horns over a suggestion to set up a wakf-type body for
Christians.
The suggestion had
come from the Madhya Pradesh minorities commission, which said the
Christian community should set up such a body to regulate and manage its
properties like schools, churches and cemeteries in the state.
Anand Bernard, a member of the commission, is backing the recommendation that Chouhan is keen on implementing.
“The properties of
Muslims are being managed by the Wakf Board under which a tribunal
resolves disputes. Sikh community affairs are being managed by the
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Act. A handful of Parsi
community properties are being managed by the Parsi Anjuman and Hindu
properties are being governed by the Hindu Temple Act,” Bernard says.
“Why can’t an Isai board be in place to look after the properties of
Christains?”
But many Christians, including Catholics and Protestants, are opposing Bernard.
One community
leader, the Rashtriya Isai Maha Sangh coordinator Anand Muttungal, said
Bernard was just trying to please “Hindu hardliners” to bag a third term
as member of the minorities commission. Bernard has taken up the issue
when his tenure is ending, Muttungal pointed out.
Antar Singh Arya,
the state minister for minority affairs, said the government was
“committed” to protecting the properties of Christians. “We have no
vested interest. Our chief minister has accepted the minorities
commission recommendation to set up a board to manage Christian
community properties,” he told The Telegraph.
Bernard, a
Protestant, spoke of a pressing need to manage the community’s
properties worth over Rs 200 crore, saying rampant corruption had
resulted in graveyards being sold.
“A time will come when the
Protestants won’t have any property in the state. Land mafia, hand in
glove with some clerics, have already sold Christian prime properties
across the state,” he added, claiming many Catholics too wanted such a
board to bring in transparency.
But Bhopal
Catholic Diocese Archbishop Leo Carnellio said there was no need to set
up a wakf-like board for Christians. “Most of our properties in Madhya
Pradesh are purchased. We have not inherited land. Our properties are
well managed and administered…. If someone wants to infringe on our
rights, we will seek legal recourse,” Carnellio said.
Jabalpur Diocese bishop P.C. Singh, too, opposed the proposal.
Bernard was
unfazed. “In a sense, regulating Church property is a revolutionary
step. I am ready to face the consequences,” he claimed.
Babu Solomon, a
vocal community leader, said fraudulent sale of property or encroachment
on graveyards must be checked but a wakf-like body was not required for
that. “The Wakf Board was created in 1954 in a very different
situation. India had undergone Partition and safeguarding Muslim
property was the onus of the government. Now we have enough laws to do
it and, if required, a committee comprising prominent and responsible
persons from the Christian society could be formed to look into the
issue.”
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