Sat, 20/03/2010 - 9:40pm Supreme Court questions Church property law

The Supreme Court of India today [March 20] asked Madhya Pradesh state to explain its move to enact a state law to manage Christian properties in the state.

The court response comes in following a plea by Church spokesperson Father Anand Muttungal seeking to restrain the state establishing a state-controlled trust system to control Christian properties.

The court asked the state to file their replies within four weeks.

The Church petition claims a resolution for such a law was passed in the absence of commission’s chairman.

“Therefore the commission members overstepped their jurisdiction. Similarly, the commission had also passed a resolution seeking property details of the Church including its schools, churches and cemeteries,” Father Muttungal said.

The district collectors and education department issued notices to certain Church schools to provide the details. The Church refused and took the matter to the Madhya Pradesh High Court and then to higher court when the state court failed to stop the state moves.

Lawyer Sister Mary Scaria, who was part of the panel of lawyers dealing with the case told UCA News that the court served notices on the state and four others listed as respondents, seeking their replies on the matter.

The notice was also sent to district educational officer of Jhabua district, state minority commission and the Christian member of the commission, who claimed to have pushed the idea, the sister informed

Wed, 17/03/2010 - 10:05am Amended law to let Centre take charge in riot-hit states

Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Time

New Delhi, March 17, 2010

The government’s final version of the communal violence law empowers
the Centre(Indian Federal Govt) to take charge of an area where riots have broken out once
it sends in central forces, if it finds the state government concerned
reluctant to act against the rioters.

The new law still does not allow the Centre to send armed forces on
its own to a riot-hit spot. But once a state has asked for central
forces to quell violence, the Centre will have the right — under
certain circumstances — of setting up a unified command, comprising
these forces and the local police.

The amendment was cleared by the Cabinet last December and is expected
to come for parliamentary approval next month.

The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of
Victims) Bill, however, says the Centre can declare an area
“communally disturbed” and take direct charge only if the state
concerned refuses to act against the violence being perpetrated to
such an extent that the secular fabric of the country, or internal
security, is endangered.

To guard against political misuse, the law stipulates that the Centre
must first draw the attention of the state government to the
deteriorating state of affairs, and set a deadline for it to take
necessary steps to suppress the violence.

Until now, central forces deployed in a state worked under the control
of the local district administration. But henceforth, in special
circumstances, it will work under the unified command, which will
report to the Centre.

The amendment was conceived of in the backdrop of the 2002 Gujarat
riots, when it was widely believed the state government had done
little to discourage the rioters.
Even so, it is bound to anger state governments who will see it as an
encroachment on their powers. Eight of 12 states that responded to a
survey by a parliamentary panel had even opposed an earlier, milder
version.

Wed, 10/03/2010 - 1:33pm Why teach only Gita in schools: Madhya Pradesh minorities

10-3-2010
Bhopal: Minorities in Madhya Pradesh have criticised plans to introduce the Bhagvad Gita in state-run schools, saying the scriptures of other religions should also be part of the syllabus, even as a section of Muslim leaders sees nothing wrong with it.

The Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh has said the government should, if it has to, teach the scriptures of all religions and not just the Hindu scriptures.

'We are not against introducing lessons from religious scriptures in schools. But all religions in the country should get equal representation,' Bhopal's Archbishop Leo Cornelio said.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had declared last week that his government was contemplating introducing the Gita in the school curriculum as 'its study is necessary for moral education'.

'The Bhagvad Gita is a treasure of knowledge. Children should be imparted the knowledge of the Gita and there should be no politics over it,' Chouhan said.

But Cornelia said the move favouring just one religious text was against India's secular character which respects all religions equally.

The archbishop said the church supports the idea of having lessons from scriptures as they will help inculcate values in students, but the problem is 'ever since the BJP government came to power in the state in December 2003, it has made efforts to promote the Hindu religion alone'.

Madhya Pradesh Catholic Churches' spokesman Father Anand Muttangal said: 'We welcome the proposal of the government to include the religious scripture in the educational syllabus. We too have been asking the government to include religious education as part of the curriculum so that children will know about religions when they complete studies, but the thing is that here too it is selective.

Sun, 07/03/2010 - 10:39pm Human Sacrifice in Chhattisgarh on Mahashivaratri for power

Four held in Chhattisgarh for human sacrifice
Raipur, March 7 -

Four people, including two women, were arrested in a Chhattisgarh village for allegedly killing a six-year-old boy to obtain spiritual powers, a police officer said on Sunday.
Shobharam Sahu was arrested along with his wife Sonkunwar, son Visheshwar and daughter-in-law Kewra Bai, late Saturday from Banjari village in Dhamtari district, some 80 km from here, on charges of sacrificing their neighbour's child.

"Shobharam kidnapped the boy, Nohar, on the night of Feb 1 and the family kept the child in captivity till Feb 12 when Shobharam cut Nohar into pieces on Mahashivratri to obtain spiritual powers," Inspector General Mukesh Gupta told reporters Sunday.
He said Shobharam was arrested for murdering the child while his wife, son and daughter-in-law were held for being part of the criminal conspiracy. Gupta said the main accused had confessed to the killing during interrogation.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.