In one of its kind move , the apex body of archbishops, bishops and heads of catholic and protestant churches in the state have signed a referendum to completely boycott “ communal forces “and have urged the Christians to vote for “non communal forces “and for the people who have grassroots level connect with the common man and their
interests.
In one of its rarest initiatives the pastoral letter is duly signed by the Bishop Dyavasivardam, moderator of the church of south India (CSI), the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches and by the Archbishop of Hyderabad have urged the Christians to boycott all the communal forces in the upcoming elections and requested them to vote for the candidates with democratic outlook and sensitivity. This letter has created a stir in the political circle as it would have very strong implications in the forthcoming elections throughout the state.
The justification for issuing such a letter, Mr. Dyvasivardam says that it is a critical time and it is obligatory and imperative that Christians are made aware of the potential danger of any communal party coming into power. So it is extremely relevant to issue the letter to bring awareness among the Christian voters and to guard them from the negative influence of the communal forces.
In an interview given to one of the leading news paper , Mr Dyvasivardam reiterated his concern very clearly that whatever happened in Kandhamal and Odisha should not be repeated at all and the voters should be sensible enough to vote for forces committed to the cause of justice, equality and humanity. The communal forces or collaborators of the same such as TDP, Which has come into agreement or alliance with BJP, would get the strongest blow with this pastoral letter. While it is going to facilitate and garner the support for Jaganmohan
Reddy.
This is an exceptionally critical step taken by (CSI) and (APFC) but the impact of these
types of initiatives will increase manifolds if all the secular sections of the societies
whether social or religious come together and create a common platform to defeat
and destroy the communal forces. This step should set a stage for an interfaith
collaboration of all the non communal forces so that, India emerges more tolerant,
peaceful and progressive. And the dream of retaining the pluralistic Indian ethos
remains stronger and flourishing. The exceptional aspect has to be mentioned here is
the kind of discipline, integrity and strength shown by the action taken by the bishops is
really commendable and we as Muslims should take this example to set ourselves right
in perspective, strength and unity.