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Paul CHERUTHOTTUPURAM, Sri Lanka says,

Hindu and Catholic Leaders Must Walk the Talk
By C. M. Paul

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Sri Lanka, Jun. 14. In the landmark two-hour inter-faith conversation that took place behind closed doors, Catholic and Hindu religious leaders drew up the Mumbai Pact 2009: ``No violence against minorities. No forced conversions. A pooling of resources for social work and charity.`` Super deal! These guys signed utopia and agreed on things beyond their control... Look at it squarely.

What can a Catholic Cardinal do to rein in the fringe and lunatic elements of Christian sects engaged in ridiculous ``evangelization``? What can one Shankaracharya (there are four) who comes out of the Inter-Religious dialogue and calls for the boycott of the U.S. body visiting India to enquire into the religious intolerance and ruthless anti-Christian persecutions on the hapless tribal Christians of Orissa and else where do to ensure there is no more antichristian violence? Whom are these gentlemen trying to impress?
This is not the answer to a problem that is embedded (etched) in the psyche of the nation that is communally vitiated since the infamous Kanyakumari to Kashmir rath yatra (chariot journey) masterminded by the prime ministerial candidate of several Lok Sabha elections - LK Advani, way back in 1992. What is needed is a national awakening for communal harmony, led by these same inter-religious leaders... a Kanyakumari to Kashmir pada yatra (foot journey). That is a tall order!
Let us make it more practical. For a change, those great religious leaders who met at Mumbai``s Shanmukhananda Hall, 12 June (Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Jayendra Saraswati, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mumbai Archbishop Cardinal Oswald Gracias and Cardinal Jean Louis P Tauran, the Pope`s representative from the Vatican) need to walk their talk...
Here are some suggestions:
1) Go to Kandhamahal as an inter-religious high power team.
2) Visit the persecuted Christians driven out of their homes by their Hindu neighbours
3) See them, listen to their stories, comfort them, give them hope and courage
4) Lead the homeless in a pada yatra, yes, those great leaders of the Mumbai Pact 2009
5) Lead the pada yatra to settle them in their villages, holding an amity meet in each
6) Move on to the next village in the same way...
7) Move on to the third village in the same way... etc., etc.
8) Move on with padaya yatra till the last, homeless is settled in his/her rightful home.
To add colour and media coverage some politicians and cine stars could be crowd-pullers. And for mercy`s sake let no joint statement be drawn up nor any joint-agreement filed! Jai Hindi!

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Article written by
Paul CHERUTHOTTUPURAM(Sri Lanka) cmpaul53@gmail.com

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