Date | Fri, 1 Nov 2002 08:06:37 -0800 (PST) |
From | John Menezes |
Subject | Fwd: [Gulf Goans] Indian Diwali in a Mauritian church / Fr. Saturnino Almeida |
Indian Diwali in a Mauritian churchBy Kishore Rathod, November 1, 2002Only last week Bajrang Dal activists accused him of �creating a rift between communities� and �fanning communal disharmony�. A police case was also registered against him for being �anti-Hindu�. This week, the Christian priest Fr Saturnino Almeida, principal of Fr Agnel School, Vashi, is involved in a Hindu festival event. Almeida is taking a 127-member delegation - 119 students of the school and eight staff members - to celebrate Diwali in a Mauritian church. The team, which flew to Mauritius on October 29, will stay at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Port Louis, where the World Inter Religious Celebrations are being organised. As part of the weeklong event, all Agnel students - Christians, Hindus and Muslims - will come together under the banner of Hindu House and present Indian cultural programmes on November 2 and 4, the days of Diwali. Fr Almeida, on the eve of his departure on Tuesday, said, �Our students will not only celebrate Diwali together, but also involve people from all around the world.� The team is being hosted by the cultural wing of Air Mauritius, which works for world peace and environment. The students have also been invited by the Mauritian Tourism Department to participate in a grand Diwali programme at Domaine les Pailles, which will be telecast live on Mauritian national television. The delegation will return on November 6. When asked whether the trip is a befitting reply to the Hindu fundamentalists who doubted his secularism, Fr Almeida said, �We were always committed to develop the overall personality of our students without any differences of caste, creed or religion. And this trip is a part of the endeavour.� He added that as far as the police case was concerned, the matter was sub judice and he would not comment on it. The case will come up for hearing on November 11 before the Thane magistrate. Fr Almeida is facing charges under Section 153 (A) and 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code - the same as Sena chief Bal Thackeray for his Dassera speech - after Bajrang Dal activists complained that a question in the school�s Std XII English paper hurt Hindu sentiments. (Source: Mid Day) |