KOCHI/T’PURAM : The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) on Friday criticised a recent speech made by Chandy Oommen, son of former chief minister Oommen Chandy, regarding conversion of Hagia Sophia church into a mosque in Turkey. Chandy Oommen, in a programme organised by Muslim Students Federation in Malappuram recently, reportedly said the protest campaigns on social media against the conversion of the Hagia Sophia church into a museum were aimed at creating communal divide. He reportedly said those protesting against this move had no issues when churches in the West got converted into commercial spaces.
KCBC, in an official statement, said his comments caused pain to the Christian community. “In an attempt to justify the writer of an article in ‘Chandrika’ daily, which praised the act of Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Chandy Oommen in his speech, analysed the event connecting it with churches in Europe getting sold and getting converted into commercial spaces.
The Cathedral (Hagia Sophia) represents a big Christian community which suffered communal persecution. Does the political leadership here doesn’t know that the act of the Turkey ruler converting the historical monument into a mosque inflicted an unhealable wound on Christianity?” said the KCBC statement.
The statement with the header, ‘It is not right to promote communalism to win elections’, also said that young leaders should try to learn the history.After the issue snowballed into a controversy, Chandy Oommen said his speech was misconstrued and he was apologising for it.He alleged that certain lobbies in the RSS and CPM leaderships have been deliberately trying to create unrest in the state.The youth leader claimed that in the backdrop of the assembly elections, the move to communalise anything is a dangerous trend.
Chandy Oommen must withdraw controversial statement: KPCC leader
“I have not whitewashed or defended the Turkey rulers. The issue of the churches getting converted will only create a dangerous scenario in society. My speech has been misconstrued and am apologising for it. I had never intended to hurt anyone”, said Chandy Oommen.
Majority of the Congress leaders was apprehensive of commenting on Chandy Oommen’s controversial speech as they did not want to ruffle the feathers of the youth leader or his father. However, KPCC organising general secretary K P Anil Kumar reacted strongly against Chandy Oommen. “Chandy Oommen’s controversial speech which has ruffled the feathers of the Christian communities is not right. They have always supported the Indian National Congress. Hence, Chandy Oommen should withdraw his statement,” Anil Kumar told TNIE.
‘My speech was misconstrued’
In the wake of the controversy, Chandy Oommen said: “I have not whitewashed or defended the Turkey rulers. The issue of the churches getting converted will only create a dangerous scenario in society. My speech has been misconstrued and am apologising for it. I had never intended to hurt anyone.”