01-13-2009, 06:15 PM
<b>Church, Muslims oppose law panel proposals</b>
VR Jayaraj
Date: January 9, 2009
http://www.dailypioneer.com/148681/Church-...osals.htm\
Even as several of the recommendations of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission, appointed by the LDF Government, have already enraged different communities, those who support the recommendations are apprehending that the Government is likely to put the report of the commission, to be presented on January 24, in the freezer in the context of the coming Lok Sabha elections which would force the LDF not to antagonise the religious communities.
The report of the commission, headed by retired Justice VR Krishna Iyer, has made many proposals that could go against the interests of certain communities but at the same time some sections in these communities have been demanding these proposals for quite a long time. The proposals are to be included in a Bill after further examinations and passed in the Assembly.
<b>The commission has proposed among reforms almost total abolition of polygamy (among Muslims) and begetting more than two children per couple and permission for euthanasia (suggestions that cause worry to the Catholic Church). The report also says that the wealth and assets of the Christian churches should be brought under three-tier trusts. Several sections of Muslims and the Catholic Church have already made it clear that they would not allow the reforms to be implemented.</b>
Four groups of believers in the Catholic Church had earlier submitted a memorandum to the commission demanding steps to bring the assets of the Church under trusts. Trusts had been looking after the Church's assets till 1992 when the Canon laws governing this were approved by Rome.
Four Catholic laymen's groups - Catholic Laymen's Association, Kerala Latin Catholic Association (Pulloodan), All India Catholic Association and Kerala Knanaya Catholic Accociation - <b>have formed a federation to press for their demand for bringing the church properties under trusts.</b>
Federation chairman and Catholic Laymen's Association general secretary ML George said they would soon start a State-wide campaign demanding the passage of a Bill containing the provisions suggested by the Law Reforms Commission. He said public meetings, awareness campaigns and vehicle processions would be held all over the State for convincing the people and the Government about the need of such a Bill.
"Several denominations like the Jacobite and the Marthomite Christians have trusts to look after their property but the Catholic Church does not have such an arrangement. It alone does not have a democratic system on such matters," George said.
At the same time, several Muslim outfits and the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC), the umbrella association of the bishops of all the 29 Catholic dioceses of Kerala, have opposed the recommendations made by the Justice Iyer commission. <b>They said that these recommendations were in violation of the systems of their religions and hence could not be agreed to.</b>
Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliar, leader of the Sunni Muslim sect in Kerala which was a supporter of the LDF, <b>said the recommendation to abolish polygamy was against Qur'an and Islam and was intended to ridicule Muslims</b>. He said his outfit would oppose any move to implement the recommendation.
Kerala Nadvat'ul Mujahiddeen (KNM), the organisation of Mujahid Muslims known for their progressive outlook, also spoke against the recommendation on polygamy. KNM leader Hussein Madavoor said total abolition of polygamy could not be accepted. He said what was needed was not a ban but efforts to create awareness.
The KCBC has already made its objections formal through a statement which said that most of the recommendations in the report could not be accepted. Fr Stephen Alathara, spokesman for the KCBC, said in the statement that the Catholic Church would never accept the recommendations for refusing concessions to parents with more than two kids, to permit euthanasia and to do away with the provision making
suicide a crime.
The council would strongly oppose the Government through legal and other means if the Government went ahead with the plan to implement these recommendations, he said. Equally unacceptable were the recommendations for constituting trusts to manage the wealth of Christian churches and to appoint commissioners for them, he said.
<b>The federation of the four Catholic laymen's association said they would put pressure on the Government to implement the recommendations by passing a Bill in the Assembly.</b> They feared that the LDF Government might not want to take up the recommendations immediately as it would not want to antagonise the Church and the Muslims on the eve of a general election.
VR Jayaraj
Date: January 9, 2009
http://www.dailypioneer.com/148681/Church-...osals.htm\
Even as several of the recommendations of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission, appointed by the LDF Government, have already enraged different communities, those who support the recommendations are apprehending that the Government is likely to put the report of the commission, to be presented on January 24, in the freezer in the context of the coming Lok Sabha elections which would force the LDF not to antagonise the religious communities.
The report of the commission, headed by retired Justice VR Krishna Iyer, has made many proposals that could go against the interests of certain communities but at the same time some sections in these communities have been demanding these proposals for quite a long time. The proposals are to be included in a Bill after further examinations and passed in the Assembly.
<b>The commission has proposed among reforms almost total abolition of polygamy (among Muslims) and begetting more than two children per couple and permission for euthanasia (suggestions that cause worry to the Catholic Church). The report also says that the wealth and assets of the Christian churches should be brought under three-tier trusts. Several sections of Muslims and the Catholic Church have already made it clear that they would not allow the reforms to be implemented.</b>
Four groups of believers in the Catholic Church had earlier submitted a memorandum to the commission demanding steps to bring the assets of the Church under trusts. Trusts had been looking after the Church's assets till 1992 when the Canon laws governing this were approved by Rome.
Four Catholic laymen's groups - Catholic Laymen's Association, Kerala Latin Catholic Association (Pulloodan), All India Catholic Association and Kerala Knanaya Catholic Accociation - <b>have formed a federation to press for their demand for bringing the church properties under trusts.</b>
Federation chairman and Catholic Laymen's Association general secretary ML George said they would soon start a State-wide campaign demanding the passage of a Bill containing the provisions suggested by the Law Reforms Commission. He said public meetings, awareness campaigns and vehicle processions would be held all over the State for convincing the people and the Government about the need of such a Bill.
"Several denominations like the Jacobite and the Marthomite Christians have trusts to look after their property but the Catholic Church does not have such an arrangement. It alone does not have a democratic system on such matters," George said.
At the same time, several Muslim outfits and the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC), the umbrella association of the bishops of all the 29 Catholic dioceses of Kerala, have opposed the recommendations made by the Justice Iyer commission. <b>They said that these recommendations were in violation of the systems of their religions and hence could not be agreed to.</b>
Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliar, leader of the Sunni Muslim sect in Kerala which was a supporter of the LDF, <b>said the recommendation to abolish polygamy was against Qur'an and Islam and was intended to ridicule Muslims</b>. He said his outfit would oppose any move to implement the recommendation.
Kerala Nadvat'ul Mujahiddeen (KNM), the organisation of Mujahid Muslims known for their progressive outlook, also spoke against the recommendation on polygamy. KNM leader Hussein Madavoor said total abolition of polygamy could not be accepted. He said what was needed was not a ban but efforts to create awareness.
The KCBC has already made its objections formal through a statement which said that most of the recommendations in the report could not be accepted. Fr Stephen Alathara, spokesman for the KCBC, said in the statement that the Catholic Church would never accept the recommendations for refusing concessions to parents with more than two kids, to permit euthanasia and to do away with the provision making
suicide a crime.
The council would strongly oppose the Government through legal and other means if the Government went ahead with the plan to implement these recommendations, he said. Equally unacceptable were the recommendations for constituting trusts to manage the wealth of Christian churches and to appoint commissioners for them, he said.
<b>The federation of the four Catholic laymen's association said they would put pressure on the Government to implement the recommendations by passing a Bill in the Assembly.</b> They feared that the LDF Government might not want to take up the recommendations immediately as it would not want to antagonise the Church and the Muslims on the eve of a general election.