Forum seeks reinstatement of Prof. Joseph
ICC Note
Muslim radicals cut off Professor Joseph’s hand accusing him of blasphemy. Instead of protecting him, a Christian college where he had been teaching dismissed him from his job.
09/25/2010 India (Christian Today)-The Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace has sought the reinstatement of the Kerala professor, who was dismissed by a Church-run college after fanatics attacked him for allegedly insulting Islam.
The national forum of Catholic Religious during its executive committee meeting wrote to the bishop of Kothamangalam, urging him to reinstate the professor.
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A group of Islamic fanatics cut of the professor’s hand on July 4 for the alleged blasphemous use of the name Mohamed in a question paper in March. Two months after the event, the diocese-run Newman College dismissed him.
Joseph has already “apologized for the mistake he committed inadvertently.
The dismissal appears to be inhuman and unchristian because he is already mentally and physically hounded,” it said.
The meeting said the “Church is playing into the hands of the fundamentalists and it has exposed its fear of fundamentalists. Definitely, it is a very dangerous precedent.”
The meeting also discussed the Right to Education Act, Right to Food Act and Dalit and Tribal issues. It urged the Religious to play an active role in implementing these acts at the regional level.
The forum also highlighted the points discussed in the National People’s Tribunal for Kandhamal in Delhi, which discussed the issues victims of the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Orissa. A core committee was formed to document the conclusions of the Tribunal.
The lawyer’s forum for Kandhamal met after the tribunal and they planned to follow up its outcome, said Brother Varghese, SG.
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