Team Herald
PANJIM: Raising strong objections, Council for Social Justice and Peace (CJSP), Director, Fr Maverick Fernandes on Thursday said that ‘empty statements’ cannot be considered for as a rebuttal for a well studied report.
“Allegations can be made; our reports have been based on analysis, based on interviews with people at the grassroots level and it has been based on very well-studied professional ways of functioning,” Fernandes said, raising strong objections to BJP’s reaction that the fact-finding report on desecration of crosses was released before the by-polls to polarise voters.
“Empty statements of polarisation cannot belittle the well-studied report. You have to come out with a very straight forward rebuttal of every point that has been said,” Fernandes added.
He further said that the report is based on a much studied professional ways of functioning and that empty statements cannot be considered as a rebuttal for a well-studied report.
The BJP Goa Unit on Wednesday had challenged the CSJP fact-finding report on the desecrations of shrines in the State and alleged that the report was made public before the by-poll in order to polarise voters.
The party has also taken offence to remarks made in an article in a Church bulletin, Renovacao, against the Centre and Goa government.
When Herald contacted the editor of Renovacao, Fr Aleixo Menezes, he said that he does not want to comment on the issue and it is up to the readers to judge the article.
