Religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities are a target for authorities

Mangalore Today News Network

Nov 28, 2016: Addressing media during their national meet at Shanthikiran, Mangaluru,  AICU, All India Catholic Union,  an apex national organisation of the Catholic laity in the country, has asked the NDA government to focus on major issues of employment generation for India’s youth, mitigating the hardships of farmers and labour who constitute the majority of the population.

 AICU former national president and spokesperson Dr John Dayal said that instead of ensuring justice for all, the government seems intent on thrusting policies that singularly target religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities.  “This is evident in the proposed RSS-inspired new education policy and the controversial Uniform Civil Code, in which a sort of a national referendum is being engineered by the Law Commission of India,” he said. The threat to freedom of expression and the use of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to coerce and silence civil society are also dangerous signals.

Corruption issues :  Dr Dayal said the Catholic laity is totally against corruption in public life and that demonetisation of currency was done without planning and foresight. “It may or may not have unearthed black money stacked by the wealthy and by the ruling class, but has certainly dealt a serious blow to co-operative banks, personal savings and labourers’ livlihood.”   Noting that the AICU is committed to gender justice in public life as much as in private and married life cutting across religions, regions and ethnicities, Dr Dayal said that in many sectors, women are paid less than men for equal work and denied facilities for rearing their young children.


Flaying the questionnaire released by National Law Commission, he said the questions are heavily loaded against a particular community. “Even during the term of NDA prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the government failed to say what was in its mind, despite sustained demands by the Catholic community,” he said. The situation is no different even now, he added.

AICU continues its solidarity with the victims of Kandhamal, he said. He added that AICU will continue to fight for the cause of Dalit Christians.

AICU national president Lancy D’Cunha, national vice president Elias Vas, secretary general Anthony Chinnappan and treasurer Alexander Anthony and immediate past president Eugene Gonsalves were present.