Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva felicitated in city

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, December 18: Speaking at a civic reception jointly held in her honor by Milagres Church Centenary Celebration Committee, Catholic Association of South Canara (CASK), and Catholic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RACHANA) at the Milagres Jubilee Hall, Margaret Alva, the Mangalore-born governor of Uttarakhand, said that she was forced to leave Mangalore for Karwar to compete in the Lok Sabha elections a few years back as she was refused a ticket in her own constituency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking about here political career of 40 years, she said that she never regretted entering politics, although she did not enter it willingly, adding that her source of inspiration has always been her husband Niranjan Alva. Claiming that her political career has been clean of scams and scandals, she rubbished allegations that she had never done anything for the Christian community. She said that she had never hesitated to advocate the right and speak out against the wrong, recalling that she had condemned the atrocities against minority Christians in Kandamal and Gujarat.

Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the bishop of Mangalore Diocese, felicitated Alva because she bears the credit of being the first Mangalorean Catholic to be appointed as the governor of an Indian state after independence. In his speech, the bishop urged Mrs. Alva to use her power to defend the rights of God, the Church, and its people.
 
Rev. Fr. Walter D’Mello, the parish priest of Milagres Church, delivered the welcome address. Captain John Menezes, the ex president of KCCI, gave a brief introduction to Mrs. Alva. Dr. Derek Lobo, the president of CASK, read out the citation that was presented to Mrs. Alva by the bishop. John Noronha, the president of RACHANA, proposed the vote of thanks.