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MANGALORE, India (UCAN) -- Charlie Chaplin, the famous British comedian and filmmaker who made the world laugh, is facing rejection in southern India because his name sounds too Christian.
The late comedian Charlie Chaplin
On March 12, members of the Hindu Jagarna Vedike (Hindu awareness council) chased away people who were erecting the actor's statue in Karnataka state. The mob destroyed construction materials, filled up a pit for the statue's foundation, and hoisted a Hindu flag on the site.
Film director Hemanth Hegde, a Hindu, had planned to put up the nearly 20-meter-high statue for a dance sequence in his new film.
On March 20, Hegde told the press he wanted a statue of the Academy-award winning comedian to be placed permanently at Maravanthe beach. His aim is for this project, estimated to cost 3.5 million rupees (US$70,000), to become a tourist attraction after the shooting.
However, Hindu activists said Chaplin was a Christian who had not done anything of benefit to the Indian people. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr. died in 1977, aged 88. Media sources say that although Chaplin's background was clearly Christian, he was not actively religious.
Suresh Bhatwadi, who led the Hindu activists, told the workers his group would not allow them to build a Christian actor's statue near a Hindu temple. A popular temple stands about 300 meters from the proposed Chaplin statue site.
About 40 kilometers north of the site lies the temple town of Udupi, which houses more than a dozen Hindu temples, including the 1,000-year-old Krishna temple.
Bhatwadi warned Hegde that his group would destroy Chaplin's statue if it is built anywhere in the state.
However, Hegde told reporters that there was no question of surrendering to such groups, saying that art and artists "know no religion." He said he would put up the statue in the state capital, Bangalore. A private firm had offered to install the statue on its premises here.
Christians and Hindus alike have condemned the threat from the Hindu group.
On March 21, Bishop Aloysius Paul D'Souza of Mangalore condemned cases of sectarian violence in the state's predominantly Christian areas. His press release noted that there was anxiety and fear among people. It urged all religious leaders and human rights activists to collectively oppose "unreligious acts."
Father Valerian Mendonca, director of "Sandesha" (message), a Catholic cultural center in Mangalore, called the whole incident of making the world renowned artist "pass a religion test in India" a "joke."
Catholic lay leader Vincent Furtado said that Christians "have nothing to do" with the statue. However, it hurts when such a matter is treated in a sectarian manner, he added.
Furtado asserted that the incident was part of "a larger agenda against Christians." Regrettably, Hindu radicals now dub "anything Western as Christian, and anything Christian as anti-Hindu."
Amrith Someswar, 68, a popular Hindu writer, said Hindu radicals have become a "real comedy" as they are opposing "anything and everything that is Christian or Muslim." They are attacking the culture of co-existence and the give-and-take attitude that helps society to survive, he declared.
But the writer also said people should not put up statues unless they can protect and take care of them.
Meanwhile, Karnataka art lovers have started a signature campaign to protect art and culture from Hindu extremists. They have appealed to the state government to save Chaplin from "these great dictators."
Radha M. Nagraj, a Hindu who was among more than 100 signatories, wrote in her appeal: "Let's not communalize art and artists. Any attempt to Talibanize our land will not be tolerated."
Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/03/23/hindu-group-objects-to-erection-of-charlie-chaplin-statue
Priest accused of molesting woman arrested, then released
JABALPUR, India (UCAN) -- Police in central India arrested and then released a Catholic priest on a molestation charge, but Church people have dismissed it as an attempt to defame the Church.
Father D. Davidson of Bhopal archdiocese was arrested on March 21 on charges of molesting a woman in his parish house in Berkhera near Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state. He was released the same day.
A police official said they had registered a case of sexual molestation under a section of the criminal code which allows the local police station to grant bail without taking the accused to a court. "So we released the priest on bail but will continue the investigation," he added.
Father Anand Muttungal, spokesperson of the Catholic Church in the state, dismissed the case as "a well-orchestrated drama to defame the Church."
Father Davidson, narrating the entire incident, recalled in the past few days before his arrest that a woman had been coming to the parish house seeking work as a domestic servant. The priest refused her request twice as she was a stranger.
"As soon as I saw her (a third time) I shouted at her to go out," but she refused. The priest then called the house maid and parish workers to take the woman out of the house. But the woman suddenly broke her glass bangles and threw them on the corridor, apparently to create proof that the priest had broken them during an attack. She later lodged the molestation complaint.
Father Muttungal said that some Hindus had pressed the police to register a rape case. Succumbing to pressure, the police registered the case even though it was a "fake complaint."
He added that the case "is just a continuation" Hindu radicals systematically targeting Christians with tacit state support. The Church wants a "fair probe to bring out the truth" and punish the guilty "for painting a bad picture" of Christians, he said.
Since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian people's party) started governing Madhya Pradesh from December 2003, the state has reported more than 170 major attacks on Christians and their institutions. The reason given for most of the attacks was supposedly to prevent Christians from converting poor Hindus.
Father Muttungal said he "cannot rule out" the incident as part of a strategy to create sectarian divisions ahead of the parliamentary election due in the state on April 23 and 30.
Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/03/23/priest-accused-of-molesting-woman-arrested-then-released/
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
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The late comedian Charlie Chaplin
On March 12, members of the Hindu Jagarna Vedike (Hindu awareness council) chased away people who were erecting the actor's statue in Karnataka state. The mob destroyed construction materials, filled up a pit for the statue's foundation, and hoisted a Hindu flag on the site.
Film director Hemanth Hegde, a Hindu, had planned to put up the nearly 20-meter-high statue for a dance sequence in his new film.
On March 20, Hegde told the press he wanted a statue of the Academy-award winning comedian to be placed permanently at Maravanthe beach. His aim is for this project, estimated to cost 3.5 million rupees (US$70,000), to become a tourist attraction after the shooting.
However, Hindu activists said Chaplin was a Christian who had not done anything of benefit to the Indian people. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr. died in 1977, aged 88. Media sources say that although Chaplin's background was clearly Christian, he was not actively religious.
Suresh Bhatwadi, who led the Hindu activists, told the workers his group would not allow them to build a Christian actor's statue near a Hindu temple. A popular temple stands about 300 meters from the proposed Chaplin statue site.
About 40 kilometers north of the site lies the temple town of Udupi, which houses more than a dozen Hindu temples, including the 1,000-year-old Krishna temple.
Bhatwadi warned Hegde that his group would destroy Chaplin's statue if it is built anywhere in the state.
However, Hegde told reporters that there was no question of surrendering to such groups, saying that art and artists "know no religion." He said he would put up the statue in the state capital, Bangalore. A private firm had offered to install the statue on its premises here.
Christians and Hindus alike have condemned the threat from the Hindu group.
On March 21, Bishop Aloysius Paul D'Souza of Mangalore condemned cases of sectarian violence in the state's predominantly Christian areas. His press release noted that there was anxiety and fear among people. It urged all religious leaders and human rights activists to collectively oppose "unreligious acts."
Father Valerian Mendonca, director of "Sandesha" (message), a Catholic cultural center in Mangalore, called the whole incident of making the world renowned artist "pass a religion test in India" a "joke."
Catholic lay leader Vincent Furtado said that Christians "have nothing to do" with the statue. However, it hurts when such a matter is treated in a sectarian manner, he added.
Furtado asserted that the incident was part of "a larger agenda against Christians." Regrettably, Hindu radicals now dub "anything Western as Christian, and anything Christian as anti-Hindu."
Amrith Someswar, 68, a popular Hindu writer, said Hindu radicals have become a "real comedy" as they are opposing "anything and everything that is Christian or Muslim." They are attacking the culture of co-existence and the give-and-take attitude that helps society to survive, he declared.
But the writer also said people should not put up statues unless they can protect and take care of them.
Meanwhile, Karnataka art lovers have started a signature campaign to protect art and culture from Hindu extremists. They have appealed to the state government to save Chaplin from "these great dictators."
Radha M. Nagraj, a Hindu who was among more than 100 signatories, wrote in her appeal: "Let's not communalize art and artists. Any attempt to Talibanize our land will not be tolerated."
Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/03/23/hindu-group-objects-to-erection-of-charlie-chaplin-statue
Priest accused of molesting woman arrested, then released
JABALPUR, India (UCAN) -- Police in central India arrested and then released a Catholic priest on a molestation charge, but Church people have dismissed it as an attempt to defame the Church.
Father D. Davidson of Bhopal archdiocese was arrested on March 21 on charges of molesting a woman in his parish house in Berkhera near Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state. He was released the same day.
A police official said they had registered a case of sexual molestation under a section of the criminal code which allows the local police station to grant bail without taking the accused to a court. "So we released the priest on bail but will continue the investigation," he added.
Father Anand Muttungal, spokesperson of the Catholic Church in the state, dismissed the case as "a well-orchestrated drama to defame the Church."
Father Davidson, narrating the entire incident, recalled in the past few days before his arrest that a woman had been coming to the parish house seeking work as a domestic servant. The priest refused her request twice as she was a stranger.
"As soon as I saw her (a third time) I shouted at her to go out," but she refused. The priest then called the house maid and parish workers to take the woman out of the house. But the woman suddenly broke her glass bangles and threw them on the corridor, apparently to create proof that the priest had broken them during an attack. She later lodged the molestation complaint.
Father Muttungal said that some Hindus had pressed the police to register a rape case. Succumbing to pressure, the police registered the case even though it was a "fake complaint."
He added that the case "is just a continuation" Hindu radicals systematically targeting Christians with tacit state support. The Church wants a "fair probe to bring out the truth" and punish the guilty "for painting a bad picture" of Christians, he said.
Since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian people's party) started governing Madhya Pradesh from December 2003, the state has reported more than 170 major attacks on Christians and their institutions. The reason given for most of the attacks was supposedly to prevent Christians from converting poor Hindus.
Father Muttungal said he "cannot rule out" the incident as part of a strategy to create sectarian divisions ahead of the parliamentary election due in the state on April 23 and 30.
Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/03/23/priest-accused-of-molesting-woman-arrested-then-released/
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
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