08-18-2007, 01:31 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Church on warpath </b>
The PioneerEdit Desk
LDF faces heat in Kerala
The Christians, especially Catholics, of Kerala have been on the warpath against the CPI(M)-led LDF Government for more than a month now for the regime's education policies. Despite the Government's assurances, they are reluctant to relent. <b>Constituting a mere 19 per cent of the State's population, Christians have zealously defended their rights as a minority community whenever they have felt threatened - and succeeded in toppling Governments. This dates back to 1957 when the 'Liberation Struggle' launched by the Christians had forced Jawaharlal Nehru's Government in Delhi to dismiss the first-ever elected Communist Government led by EMS Namboodiripad. Fifty years later, the Archbishop of Thrissur has called for a repetition of the 1957 struggle so that a "Government of atheists, anarchists and anti-minority Communists" can be felled</b>. With the LDF responding in a most inept manner, what was an agitation is now fast threatening to turn into a movement. But there is no reason to blindly support the Catholic church-led crusade, much as the LDF's policies may be flawed or hastily drafted. For, <b>everyone in Kerala knows that the call for a "second liberation struggle" has to do more with money than minority rights per se. What is at stake is the huge fortune that church-run colleges offering professional courses - as many as 60 per cent of such 'self-financing' institutions in Kerala belong to the Catholic church alone - have been raking in till now; the LDF's policy seeks to address complaints about huge capitation money, high fees and favouritism in admissions</b>. Till now, these issues had been left untouched as the colleges are designated 'minority educational institutions' and hence beyond scrutiny or control.
The LDF Government decided to tame the church-run institutions, largely egged on by laity who are too poor to afford education for their children in these colleges that are supposed to serve them, by legislating an Act. However, the law has not been able to pass judicial scrutiny;<b> but the church knows that if the existing flaws are removed, the courts may well endorse the law</b>. The Government has not helped its case by devising a plan to give more powers to local administration bodies in the control of aided schools, thus conveying the impression that it will use the panchayats to interfere in the affairs of these schools.<b> The church heads claim that a "Government of the atheists" is planning to "kill the spiritual content of the schools' curriculum, decide academic matters, monitor the appointment and performance of teachers, and spread anarchy". </b>Unlike the spat over the self-financing colleges, this dispute has wider appeal among the laity. Vigilante groups have been set up to guard the schools, rallies are being organised and the church leaders say a "second liberation struggle" has begun. <b>For the LDF, this has revived memories of 1957.</b>
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The PioneerEdit Desk
LDF faces heat in Kerala
The Christians, especially Catholics, of Kerala have been on the warpath against the CPI(M)-led LDF Government for more than a month now for the regime's education policies. Despite the Government's assurances, they are reluctant to relent. <b>Constituting a mere 19 per cent of the State's population, Christians have zealously defended their rights as a minority community whenever they have felt threatened - and succeeded in toppling Governments. This dates back to 1957 when the 'Liberation Struggle' launched by the Christians had forced Jawaharlal Nehru's Government in Delhi to dismiss the first-ever elected Communist Government led by EMS Namboodiripad. Fifty years later, the Archbishop of Thrissur has called for a repetition of the 1957 struggle so that a "Government of atheists, anarchists and anti-minority Communists" can be felled</b>. With the LDF responding in a most inept manner, what was an agitation is now fast threatening to turn into a movement. But there is no reason to blindly support the Catholic church-led crusade, much as the LDF's policies may be flawed or hastily drafted. For, <b>everyone in Kerala knows that the call for a "second liberation struggle" has to do more with money than minority rights per se. What is at stake is the huge fortune that church-run colleges offering professional courses - as many as 60 per cent of such 'self-financing' institutions in Kerala belong to the Catholic church alone - have been raking in till now; the LDF's policy seeks to address complaints about huge capitation money, high fees and favouritism in admissions</b>. Till now, these issues had been left untouched as the colleges are designated 'minority educational institutions' and hence beyond scrutiny or control.
The LDF Government decided to tame the church-run institutions, largely egged on by laity who are too poor to afford education for their children in these colleges that are supposed to serve them, by legislating an Act. However, the law has not been able to pass judicial scrutiny;<b> but the church knows that if the existing flaws are removed, the courts may well endorse the law</b>. The Government has not helped its case by devising a plan to give more powers to local administration bodies in the control of aided schools, thus conveying the impression that it will use the panchayats to interfere in the affairs of these schools.<b> The church heads claim that a "Government of the atheists" is planning to "kill the spiritual content of the schools' curriculum, decide academic matters, monitor the appointment and performance of teachers, and spread anarchy". </b>Unlike the spat over the self-financing colleges, this dispute has wider appeal among the laity. Vigilante groups have been set up to guard the schools, rallies are being organised and the church leaders say a "second liberation struggle" has begun. <b>For the LDF, this has revived memories of 1957.</b>
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