Powathil autobiography recalls strike by lecturers for government pay parity
Mar Powathil who was then the auxiliary Bishop of Changanassery, led the ‘college strike' by conducting huge rallies in Changanassery
Kottayam: The late CPI leader T.V. Thomas had offered his moral support to the Catholic Church while it was pitted against the C.Achutha Menon government in the ‘college strike’ spearheaded by the private college managements in the state in 1972.
This has been revealed by Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Changanassery, Mar Joseph Powathil, in his autobiography serialised in the Church magazine ‘Kudumbajyothis.’
The ‘college strike’ was conducted by the Catholic Church demanding the same pay scale for the aided college lecturers on par with that of the government college lecturers.
T.V. Thomas, then minister of industries with the Achutha Menon government, visited the Metropolitan’s house at Changanassery in his private vehicle during the strike and offered his moral support for the strike.
Mar Powathil, who was then the auxiliary Bishop of Changanassery, led the ‘college strike’ by conducting huge rallies in Changanassery.
“The Church didn’t expect any help from T.V. Thomas. While the strike was fizzling out, Thomas intervened and came to the Metropolitan’s house. “While holding discussions with me he asked me to never give up anything. You should persist with the strike. Did anyone need any other evidence to prove that he hadn’t lost faith in God fully,” Mar Powathil says in his autobiography.
He also mentions the time when he called upon the ailing minister who was admitted to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram with cancer.
“There were party activists inside and outside his room. I got a little time to speak with him in private. Since his condition was serious, I asked him to render the sacrament of confession and to receive the sacrament of holy mass, (on the presumption that he has faith) to which he replied, “I know it, and I will do it at the appropriate time.”
However, Mar Powathil says that the Left followers may not agree with this fact.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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