On a fine morning in march 2012, Mumbai woke up to a miracle - droplets of water were found dripping from the feet of a crucifix in front of the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni. The church declared this a miracle and distribited notices with photographs certifying the miracle. The news spread like a wildfire and in no time, the place became a centre of attraction for an ever growing crowd of believers coming from far and wide. Some of them drank the water and even collected it in bottles.
TV- 9, a local TV channel, called upon Mr. Sanal Edamaruku, the President of the Rationalist International and a popular miracle-buster, to investigate the miracle. Within minutes of his arrival, he clearly identified the source of the water to be a faulty drainage underneath, and the water happened to rise up by capillary action!! (watch Video)
Some hours later, in a live program on TV-9, Sanal expalined his findings and accused the Catholic church of miracle mongering. A heated debate began, in which the five church people, among them Fr. Augustine Palett, the priest of Our Lady of Velankanni church, and representatives of the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) demanded that Sanal apologize. But he powerfully argued against them. Msgr. Agnelo Gracias, auxiliary bishop of Mumbai, intervened Via telephone, in order to rescue the image of the Catholic Church. In this highly interesting debate, Sanal triumphed over his shouting opponents. [The whole TV program is recorded. You can watch an abridged version of it on YouTube.]
When they found their attempts to force Sanal to his knees and apologize were failing, they publicly threatened to file a blasphemy case against him. Sanal pointed out that this would give him an excellent opportunity to support all his statements with evidence in a court of law, with the bishop of Mumbai in the witness box. Foaming with rage, the church people vowed to harass him by filing an array of cases against him in all Mumbai police stations. They did!!
We know of three petitions on the base of Article 295, Indian Penal Code that have been filed against Sanal.
Meantime, Mumbai police announced that they were out to arrest him. In every single place where a petition is filed against him, he could be forced to appear in person to answer them. If his answer is not found satisfactory, he could be arrested. He could be forced to fight a multitude of criminal cases in different places. This is not only immensely time and money consuming. Given the fanaticism of some Catholic believers, it can be a danger for his life!!
Sanal had to flee and is currently in Finland and touring other european countries, but still working for the cause. International media including the BBC have come forward condemning the blasphemy laws in India.
Articles that appeared about the incident :
The Hindu (7 May 2012): India's god laws fail the test of reason
Hindustan Times: Batting for reason in a land of faith
Wall Street Journal (15 May 2012): Christ Statue in Mumbai Prompts Balsphemy Spat
No comments:
Post a Comment