Q. How important is this election for the Syro Malabar Church and the faithful?
A. The election is as important to the church as it is for the general public. Whichever front assumes power, the Church will function normally. We do not expect any special favour from anyone. We will stick to our declared stand.
Q. The government claims it has taken concrete steps to reduce human wildlife conflict, but the death rate is rising alarmingly. What intervention do you expect from the new government?
A. The forest amendment bill passed by the government has not been approved by the governor or Centre. Our demand is that the forest department should take the responsibility to protect the wild animals within the forest areas. The wild animals like elephants, tiger and leopard straying into farmlands should not be given protection under conservation act. Meanwhile animals like wild boar, peacock are proliferating in human habitations. These animals should be removed from the list of wild animals. Instead of culling, the government should allow selective hunting and the meat should be sold to the public. The forest land and revenue land should be demarcated and barriers like hanging fences, elephant walls and trenches should be made to stop wild animals from straying into farmlands.
Q. The church has criticised the FCRA amendment bill. But the BJP says it is not against the church but to curb the funding of anti national forces. What is the reason for the Church’s protest?
A. The allegation that the church is the primary beneficiary of foreign contribution is wrong. There are many community organisations that accept much bigger contributions from abroad. This is not a Christian issue but a violation of citizen rights. The present law has the provisions to block the contributions to organisations linked to anti national forces and to confiscate their property. The government has frozen thousands of accounts and confiscated the properties, without giving a valid explanation. The contributions we get are the salary of priests and nuns who work abroad. The Church is against forceful conversion. But after the anti conversion act was introduced, the Christian priests have faced attacks from fundamental forces.
Q. Are you happy with the action taken on the J B Koshy Commission report?
A. The government has not implemented the Commission report. The government published the report and assured to adopt a lenient approach on many issues. The government could have acted faster.
Q. Is there a chance of the Christian community acting as a vote bank to protect the interests of the community?
A. We will never support any move to create a Christian vote bank. Our stand is that the faithful should be able to analyse the situation and cast the vote according to his conscience. But we review the developments and create awareness among the faithful. This will give them the right perspective. If the faithful feel there is a need to stand united, they will act accordingly and I don't think there is a need for the Church to intervene.