Church leaders to approach President, PM on Kerala Colleges Act

Kochi, July 10 (UNI) Expressing grave concern over the ''violation of minority rights'' by the recently passed Kerala Professional Colleges Act, the heads of the Catholic Church today decided to approach President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh besides the Minorities Commission on the issue.

At a meeting, attended by 25 bishops of the Latin Catholic and Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, here it was also decided that a judicial remedy will be sought, if needed.

''If necessary, we will approach the courts on this issue,'' Deputy Secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) Fr Zacharia Paranilam told UNI after the meeting.

He said a delegation comprising representatives of the major Christian Churches in Kerala, including the Catholic Church, had already left for Delhi this afternoon to meet the Central leaders.

Besides the President and the Prime Minister, the Church delegation will also apprise Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh and the Minorities Commission about their apprehensions on the new law.

Incidentally, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had also met Arjun Singh during his two-day visit to Delhi last week to urge that the Professional Colleges Act be incorporated in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to make it non-justiciable.

Expressing deep concern over certain provisions of the Act, which they said will impinge on the Constitutionally-guaranteed right of the minority communities to run educational institutions, the Church leaders also decided to hold a sensitisation campaign to make the people aware about the ''negative provisions'' of the Act.

They also decided that July 23 will be observed as a 'Day of Prayer' in all the churches in Kerala to focus attention on this issue and to ''pray to God that good sense will prevail''.

Among those, who attended today's meeting were Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil of the Verapoly Archdiocese and Archbishop Joseph Powathil, chairman of the education commission of the KCBC.

UNI ARC ROY SRS BST1855