Thiruvananthapuram: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has come out against the nuns protesting in front of the High Court seeking the arrest of bishop Franco Mulakkal.
The CPM state chief alleged in an article in Deshabhimani that the strike was part of a political campaign. However, fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma and industries minister E.P. Jayarajan contradicted the statement saying that they supported the strike.
Mr Balakrishnan, in the article published on the edit page of the paper, said the nuns’ protest was an attempt to defame the Church and the government. He, however, said the party supports the victim, but alleged that some communal forces were trying to take over the protest due to hidden agendas.
“Some forces were trying to convert the protest staged by the nuns into an anti-government agitation. These political forces wanted to hijack the strike of the nuns and create a series of statewide strikes against the government and the CPM,” Mr Balakrishnan said. “Those who believed in democratic and secular values should realise the truth. A nun lodging a complaint against a bishop and other nuns supporting her through a public agitation are signs of a new change,” he said.
The Church has the strength to go through an internal cleaning in the backdrop of the recent events. Pope Francis was leading the move to correct the priests who deviated from the path of moral life, he said.
Some quarters were trying to disgrace the entire Church and depict all priests as criminals in the context of the nun’s complaint with negative intentions. The government is with the victim and if there is evidence no one — whether he’s a priest or someone else — will be spared. No culprit will be allowed to escape if there's proof of the crime, be it a Christian priest or a Hindu priest or a Muslim priest, he said.
Minister Jayarajan said that the government was with the victim and that the investigation was going forward in the right path. “The accused will be punished whoever it is. No one has complaints about the investigation right now. Even the protesters are satisfied with the probe and they are not raising any allegations. You should ask Mr Balakrishnan about what he said,” said Mr Jayarajan.
Ms Mercykuttyamma said that no communal forces were behind the protest. She also said that the nuns have the right to protest. However, tourism minister Kad-akampally Surendran said that Mr Kodiyeri’s stand was not against the protest of nuns.
“There is no need of politicising the abuse allegation against the bishop,” said Mr Surendran.
