Now, clamour for Punjabi Bishop

Jalandhar, September 25

With the arrest of clergyman Franco Mulakkal last Friday by Kerala Police, some Christian groups have raised the demand for having a Punjabi Bishop here.

Lying low all these years, the Punjab Christian Movement, led by Hamid Masih, has raised the issue of a Punjabi Bishop “to cut across the language divide affecting Christians, largely Dalits”. 

“Priests from Kerala do not understand us and we are unable to make out what they say in English or Malayalam,” Masih said.

United Christian Front president George Soni, though supportive of the Bishop unlike Masih, too backs the demand for having a Punjabi Bishop. Yet another Punjabi Christian leader, Peter Sahota, a member of the Roman Catholic Union, went to the extent of saying, “Bishop Franco is being punished for he has been maintaining that Punjabis are not fit to be appointed to the post of Bishop.” Auxiliary Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias from Archdiocese Bombay, who has been given the administrator’s charge here, is yet to take over. 

Meanwhile, after the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal in the alleged rape case, not a single organisation has come out in his favour, barring about 20 Valmiki youth who demanded that he be freed. 

While some attribute it to  groupism, there is also talk of an apparent Punjabi-Malayali divide. Though headquartered in Jalandhar, the Diocese has more than 50 educational institutions in Punjab and Himachal.

Another reason being attributed is that the percentage of Christians in Punjab is just 1.1 per cent, 90 per cent of them being Dalits. — TNS