Church said it would accept the Kasturiragan report only if its "anti-farmer recommendations" were called out
Church said that the Kasturirangan report was equally hazardous to the farming community. (Photo: DC/File)
Thiruvananthapuram: The Catholic Church, which was in the forefront of the struggle against both the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports, has welcomed the Centre’s decision to dump the Madhav Gadgil report but has made it clear that it would accept the Kasturiragan report only if its "anti-farmer recommendations" were called out.
Even while endorsing the Centre’s move, Thamarassery Bishop Rev Fr Remigius Inchananiyil said that the government should implement the Oommen V Oommen committee report which he described as “more farmer friendly and democratic”. He said that the Kasturirangan report was equally hazardous to the farming community.
Idukki Bishop Mar Mathew Anikuzhikattil said that the Church was not against any report which would not disturb the peaceful life of the people of the district. He said that certain clauses in the Kasturirangan report were objectionable and charged that even the Kasturirangan report was prepared without consulting with the people in the area.
Idukki MP Joice George, who successfully rode the anti-Kasturirangan wave, said that the Kasturirangan report should be implemented only after local consultations. The concluding words of Joice George’s seven-minute speech in Parliament last month was: “You cannot conserve nature by waging war against us.” Mr Joice George said that Javadekar had said in his reply that there were technical and practical issues in both the reports. Joice said that Javadekar had assured him in the floor of the Parliament that the Kasturirangan report would be implemented only after taking the people into confidence.
Initially, the state BJP leadership was in denial mode. “The media is trying to mislead the people,” BJP general secretary K Surendran said. “The centre has not rejected Gadgil as is being projected. The affidavit merely stated a technical fact that it is only the Kasturirangan report that is under its consideration,” Surendran said. Muraleedharan, too, echoed the sentiment initially.
“It is a known fact that the UPA government had replaced the Gadgil report with the Kasturirangan report after the states registered their opposition. So at the moment, in a very technical sense, it is only the Kasturirangan report that the centre can consider,” Muraleedharan said.
But when he was read out the specific words in paragraph F of the affidavit, which clearly says that the MoEF does not wish to process the Gadgil report, the BJP state president seemed confused. “If it is true that the Centre had rejected Gadgil, then the decision is subject to change tomorrow,” he said. Both Muraleedharan and Surendran reiterated that the state unit of the BJP still stuck to its stand that the Gadgil committee recommendations alone should be implemented.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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