MARGAO: NCP Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao pledged full support to fight the grave injustice of the demolition of the church by the Delhi authorities, as he along with his daughter Valanka Alemao visited the demolished site of Little Flower Church in New Delhi on Saturday.
He met the Parish Priest Fr Jose as well as the parishioners and pledged his full support.
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Speaking to Herald from Delhi, Churchill said the Parish Priest alleged that the notice was posted on the wall on late Friday evening and since the ensuing Saturday and Sunday were holidays it was not possible to seek legal intervention, so the authorities razed the church on Monday.
“It was shocking to see that statues of saints were broken and venerable articles destroyed which only provoked an outrage among the Christian parishioners since it deeply affected their sentiments”, he said.
Churchill stressed that Fr Jose had stated that what was quoted was different, wrong order and as such it was a deliberate case foisted against the minorities.
Valanka Alemao said Fr Jose alleged that the order was concerning an interim High Court order of 2015 and what was even more shocking is that it pertained to a temple in Ramesh Nagar in North Delhi, thereby there being no connection with the Church.
“It was heartbreaking to listen to those who were unjustly affected”, he said.
Churchill hoped that the truth will prevail and justice delivered, with the Government not only punishing those involved in the uncalled-for illegal demolition but also restore the church with the official responsible for the unjust demolition being taken to task and even terminated from his job for the arbitrary orders which sadly affected the minority community.
Valanka highlighted that this is a clear case of intimidating the Christian community done deliberately to suppress the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
Valanka said the way they went about the demolition is simply not acceptable in a democratic setup and as such the Government has to not only tender a public apology but also restore the church to its original position immediately.
