Christian group plea to vote for "secular parties" on eve of elections

A series of manifestos and statements earlier released by the church prior to elections might have only vaguely called for voting of "secular parties".

Going a step further, a Christian group has now construed the term by stating, "Secular parties mean the parties which condemned the attack against the Christians in Orissa and other parts of the country."

The statement was made by John Dayal at a press conference organised by the Federation of Catholic Associations of Delhi. The capital city is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections on May 7.

"We must choose parties not candidates with a proven secular record and a commitment to uplift the people," the Christian leader said.

The Federation has apparently asked Christians to vote out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been part of many anti-Christian campaigns, recently being the Orissa violence where law and order collapsed.

In the statement, the Catholic group insisted that "every Catholic must come out and vote and must persuade his or her neighbours to do the same (vote for a secular party)."

Jenis Francis, president of the association, said: "Over the past several weeks, specially trained activists have gone to most of our 82 parishes or church units to educate our masses. In each assembly segment in Delhi the Catholics have an average 3,000 votes."

Several church organisations including the National Council of Churches in India and Catholic Bishops Conference earlier had released statements urging voters to vote for candidates committed to "secularism and communal harmony".

Reason for the impromptu concern for elections can be the escalating violence on Christians in India. In Kandhamal, for instance, dozens were murdered, hundreds of churches burnt and thousands rendered homeless. The consequences apparently led to the awakening of churches.

Agreeing with it would be Fr Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi. "Turnout in southern Mangalore proper was higher than in other parts of Karnataka," he said, indicating that the efforts of the church had paid off.

Over 9.46 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in the fourth phase of polls tomorrow. Apart from Delhi, states to be covered in this phase include Punjab, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir.