FKCA Federation Day 2011
Bangalore, Jan 30: The annual "Federation Day" of the the Federation of
Konkani Catholic Associations (FKCA) was celebrated with splendour. The event
began at 4:30 PM with Konkani mass concelebrated by Most Rev. Dr. Robert
Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga Diocese, along with other priests.
The formal program began at 6:00 PM with an invocation dance in the form of Bharata Natyam by Miss Leslin Dias. The chief guests of the program - Sri M Mallikarjuna Kharge, Union Minister for Labor, Government of India, Sri Murugesh R Nirani, Large & Medium Scale Industries Minister, Government of Karnataka, Dr G Parameshwara, MLA, President KPCC and Bishop Most Rev. Dr. Robert Miranda were then escorted to the dais by FKCA office bearers. FKCA chairman Mr. Valerian Fernades welcomed the chief guests and all the gathered people. FKCA secretary Mrs. Phelomena Pereira presented the annual report.
The Union Minister conferred the prestigious
Federation Awards for the year 2010 to leading philanthropist Ronald Colaco
(Entrepreneur with a Social Conscience), leading oncologist and surgeon Dr
Antony V Pais (Professional Excellence) and noted Kannada and Kokani scholar Rev
Fr Prashanth Madtha (Lifetime Achievement). The Gulbarga Bishop Rev Dr Robert
Michael Miranda presided over the function, while Karnataka’s Large and Medium
Industries Minister Murugesh R Nirani and KPCC President Dr G Parameshwara were
the guests of honour.
In his speech Mr. Mallikarjuna Kharge said the Yeddyurappa regime should not shy
away from ordering a CBI probe especially after its contention that neither the
Government nor the ruling party had anything to do with the Church attacks. He
also demanded a CBI probe into the Church attacks in Mangalore, Udupi, Bangalore
and other districts in September 2008 to instill confidence in the minority
Christian community about the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government’s sincerity and
impartiality. "The CBI probe will nail the guilty. If the Government or the
ruling party has nothing to do with the Church attacks, they need not have any
fears about ordering the CBI inquiry" Kharge said pointing out that the attacks
on Churches was an attack not only on the Christian minority community but also
the poor and oppressed sections, who owed a lot to the Christian missionaries
for their pioneering work in the fields of education, health-care and social
upliftment.
Kharge said it was surprising that the Somashekar Commission, which had
indicated that it had a strong suspicion on the involvement of Bhajrang Dal and
other Sangh Parivar outfits in its interim report submitted to the government in
February last year, should take a completely different stand in its final report
submitted after a year.
``The Commission has failed to identify the guilty and has come out with vague
findings,” he said pointing out that a CBI probe was the only solution to allay
suspicions of the Christian minority community and also to ensure that the
minority community and other sections of society did not lose faith in judges
and the judicial inquiries conducted by them.
The Union Minister urged Karnataka’s Large and Medium Industries Minister
Murugesh R Nirani to prevail upon the Chief Minister to ensure that all the
cases filed against innoncent Christian youngsters following the Church attacks
for their spontaneous reaction. ``For a Government which withdrew large number
of cases against farmers, students and other sections during various agitations,
withdrawal of cases against innocent Christian youth involved in the various
incidents was not a great task. All it needs a decision and political will from
the Chief Minister. Murugesh Nirani is the right person to convince Yeddyurappa,”
he said.
KPCC President Dr G Parameshwar lauded the pioneering work of Christian
missionaries throughout the country in educating the poor, downtrodden and
oppressed sections of society. He said the Somashekar Commission report did not
inspire the confidence of the people in such judicial inquiries as the series of
Church attacks after the BJP came to power under Yeddyurappa was an attack on
society.
The Christian educational and healthcare institutions had peformed yeomen
service to mankind and Indian society by educating the poor, dalits and
downtrodden, who would otherwise have continued in darkness and ignorance even
in the 21st century when the country was emerging as a global superpower.
Large and Medium Industry Minister Murugesh R Nirani promised to take up with
the Chief Minister to ensure that cases registered against all the innocent
persons in connection with the Church attacks were withdrawn at the earliest
possible. ``I will ensure that injustice will not be done to the Christian youth
and falsely implicated cases will be withdrawn. I will take up your issue in the
state cabinet meeting,” he said pointing out that he was impressed by the
pioneering work of the Christians in the education, healthcare and social
service fields.
Nirani paid rich compliments to the three eminent Konkani personalities, who
were conferred the three special awards, and said the recognition given to such
persons was an example for the youth to emulate them and contribute to the
growth and development of society. He said the Chief Minister and the BJP
government was sympathetic to the cause of minorities, especially Christians,
and declared that he would champion their issues.
Gulbarga Bishop Rev Dr Robert Miranda, in his presidential address, said Hindus,
Muslims and Christians should live in complete harmony and work together for the
progress of the country without trying to exploit each other. Christians or
other minorities need not be scared because of their numerical size because it
is not the number but the quality and character that counts. ``Christians should
be like the salt of the earth and light of the world emulating the example of
Jesus and his teachings,” he said.
Referring to the Somashekar judicial inquiry commission’s report, the Bishop
said the Christians, who were aggrieved party in the Church attacks, were
completely disappointed and felt totally let down. ``Instead of coming out with
the truth and identifying the guilty, the commission has failed to discharge its
duties. The guilty should be identified and punished so that such heinous crimes
did not recur. Otherwise, people and law-abiding citizens like Christians will
lose faith in the judiciary, especially judges and inquiry commissions,” he
said.
The Bishop disclosed that Nirani, who sat next to him at the function, had
personally assured him to ensure that the cases registered against Christian
youth in the Church attacks would be withdrawn within a month.
Ronald Colaco, in his speech after accepting the award, said he was deeply
pained by the insinuations and unfounded allegations of conversions against
Christians. Pointing out that Christian missionaries had pioneered in the field
of education, healthcare and social service more than 100 or even 150 years
earlier, when education was denied to Dalits and other downtrodden sections of
society, he said the Christian population should have reached enormous
proportions if their over 24,000 educational institutions and hospitals were to
carry out conversions. However, the population of Christians had come down from
2.8 % in the 1991 population to 1.8 % in the 2001 census.`` This should dispel
any lurking suspicions against Christians on the conversion issue,” he said.
KCA President Mrs. Bertha Fernandes proposed a vote of thanks. Mrs. Albina Vaz
compered the programme in English, Kannada and Konkani. The cultural program
later followed which was compered by Mr. Lionel D'Souza.
