THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second round of reconciliatory talks held under the aegis of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office on Wednesday with the warring factions of Jacobite Syrian Church and Orthodox Church did not yield any positive results. The Orthodox faction maintained that the Supreme Court verdict has to be implemented first and talks can follow later. The state government will not be holding any more talks with the two factions.
Speaking to reporters here, the Orthodox faction blamed their rivals, stating that they are the ones who are coming up with defence each time which is against the Supreme Court verdict. “It is not the Orthodox faction which is creating law and order problems. The talks can wait and our demand is that the Supreme Court verdict has to be implemented,” said the Orthodox faction representative.
It should be recalled that the Supreme Court had ordered in July 2017 that the control of St Mary’s Church and other places of worship be given to the Orthodox group of Malankara Church.The Jacobite faction urged the state government that coordinators from both sides will have to be there in the further round of talks. However, the Jacobite faction representative told TNIE that the talks were cordial and further talks will continue.
“It is not possible to reach a favourable outcome overnight. So the talks will continue and we have agreed to the chief minister’s demand that the two factions should sit together”, said Kuriakose Mar Theophilos of Jacobite faction. Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had urged the factions to take the initiative resolve their differences.