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Christians firm on 'Year of Christ'

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The new government which will come to power after the coming general election should declare the year 2000 as the 'Year of Christ', Delhi Archbishop Alan de Lastic demanded on Thursday while releasing voting guidelines for the election.

He said the Church would "prevail upon the new government, irrespective of which political formation comes to power, to declare the next year as the Year of Christ". He said it would be a fitting tribute to the Indian Church and would help in highlighting the contribution of Christianity to the country.

The head of the Roman Catholics' Archdiocese of Delhi also released a ten-point "litmus test to decide who is worthy of a vote". He said the guidelines would help voters to "elect the right candidate and the right party".

"I cannot improve the manifestos of the political parties. I have highlighted only a few important issues for the attention of all, especially the Christians," he said.

The guidelines include a call to the voters to support parties and candidates who would "treat the Christian dalits in the same way as they treat dalits of other religions, so that there is no discrimination based on religious grounds".

The guidelines also urge parties and candidates to give "preferential bias towards the poor, especially the tribals, the economically underprivileged, women, children, the aged and disabled".

He also asks voters to support political parties which have a "time-bound programme for universal elementary education by 2000 AD", which have "effective programmes for fostering peace and communal harmony" at all levels, which "ensure the value of secularism is upheld according to the Constitution of India", and which recognise and preserve India's religio-cultural pluralism as a "way of enriching the country".

He said the political party to be elected should have the "political will and take immediate steps to fight corruption", and above all "they should uphold the unity and integrity of the country".

"These guidelines are meant as a help, but every citizen is free to vote according to his or her conscience," he said.

"Although the Christian community underwent a great deal of trial in the last one year, and have not received adequate help from the Centre and states, the community will participate in the coming election with complete dedication," he said. "The Christian community is deeply committed to nation-building. It is because of this that we want this election to create an environment conducive to development and harmony. A secular polity, and removal of disparities are important to ensure this. Certain developments in the recent past have put a strain on the country's secular image," he said.

He also said that Pope John Paul II would be in India from November 5 to 8. According to his tentative programme, the Pontiff would reach Delhi on November 5 and meet President K R Narayanan on the next day. On November 7, he would lead a public celebration of the Eucharist which would be held in a stadium in the capital, and on November 8 he would leave the country.

The Archbishop said the Pope would not be visiting any other city, according to the available information. He said the programme would be finalised only after Father Tucchi, the Vatican official in charge of papal visits, meets Indian officials in New Delhi next month for finalising the visit.

On the public stand of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad against the Pope's visit, the Archbishop said, "I don't want to comment on what they want to say. It is a free country."

The VHP leadership has already written to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee protesting against the Pope's proposed visit.

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