SL blasts: Elders urge community to maintain harmony

Hyderabad: Shock, fear and insecurity was felt on Easter Sunday in services held in churches here too as news spread of the blasts and killing of innocents in Sri Lanka and prayers for peace were said in churches in the city.

Rufus Augustine, member of Manna Full Gospel Church at Safilguda, said, “Easter Sunday is happiness for the resurrection of Jesus but there was shock and disbelief as the news of the blasts in churches in Sri Lanka spread. The killing of innocents has shaken us but the priests asked us to balance our emotions and have faith in the God. The incident was highly condemned and so is the act of terrorism, war against country or any religion is strongly despised. We have prayed for the departed souls and also strength for the families and relatives who have suffered a severe emotional blow on a happy occasion.”

People were united in saying that targeting any religious place, where prayers are offered, is a dastardly and cowardly act which will not serve any purpose. The services start from sunrise during Easter celebrate the congregation’s happiness at the resurrection of Jesus Christ but the spirit of the festival was badly impacted as news and photographs of the blasts circulated on social and other media.

Ezekiel Birudugadda, member of the National Christian Council, said, “Easter is the celebration of peace loving resurrection and the community strongly believes in peace. Only the God can forgive those who do these dastardly acts. With the spreading of photographs and messages on social media, it is becoming very important to counsel the youth. There is confusion among them and the message of hatred will do no good to anyone. We have appealed to people not to forward messages and create chaos and at the same time spread the message of love and not hate.”

The fear which is palpable in the community is being handled by the senior members who state that faith in the God must be the strength of belief and it must not be shaken by these acts.

Dr Saji D’souza, senior member of the community explained, “We are a very tolerant community and this act is because the cowards want to draw attention to their propaganda. They know that this act will give them worldwide recognition and maximum countries in the world are going to react to this incident. But the radical groups belong to no one and their act of attacking innocents will not help them achieve their goal. We are a peace loving community and will preach only peace and love for all.”

The elders of the community who have come together have stressed that they must spread only this message and work completely towards maintaining harmony.