City Catholics urge PM to save religious structures

A delegation of five Catholics met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Delhi residence on Saturday to express concern about the demolition of crosses by the civic body in Mumbai.

A delegation of five Catholics met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Delhi residence on Saturday to express concern about the demolition of crosses by the civic body in Mumbai.

HT Image

Singh, they claimed, assured the group that he would urge chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to take into account the sentiments of the community while dealing with the issue.

“The PM was concerned about the fact that even old crosses from the British and Portuguese times have been served notices, and said he would ask the CM to consider the views of the community while framing a policy of the demolition of religious shrines,” said Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Catholic Secular Forum, a city-based community organisation that led the delegation.

The group included Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao and retired Bombay high court judge, Michael Saldanha.

“We told the prime minister that the civic body went about the demolitions in a very degrading, uncivilised manner, which was wrong,” said Dias. “We are happy with the sympathy the PM has shown.”