[nukkad] RSS may host meeting with Christian leaders in October

["Nelson Fernandes" <>]

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RSS may host meeting with Christian leaders in October
PRIYA SOLOMON
New Delhi , August 23, 00:25



 n an unprecedented meeting, the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh headquarter at
Jhandewalan will host a meeting between the Hindu organisation and Church
leaders in October. However, the date for the meeting is yet to be
finalised.

"They invited us for tea and we reciprocated. We'll be sending them an
invitation soon," RSS spokesperson M.G. Vaidya told TheNewspaperToday.

This would be the first such meeting when Christian leaders would visit the
Jhandewalan premise. In a significant development on Tuesday at the Catholic
Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) headquarters in Delhi, RSS and Church
leaders agreed to hold a regular dialogue on contentious issues such as
conversions and attack on church personnel.

The RSS delegation was led by K.S. Sudarshan and the CBCI team by Archbishop
Oswald Gracias. The meeting was held under the aegis of the National
Commission for Minorities. A member of the commission, John Joseph, was also
present on the occasion.

According to Joseph, he had been trying to get both the organisations
together for a meeting for long, but it was only during his 150-minute
meeting with Sudarshan in Kolkata in April this year, that RSS leader
finally agreed and even assured not to rake up contentious issues.

"I am very happy to tell you that Sudarshanji has kept the promise till
 now," Joseph said. While Sudharshan kept quiet, it was Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee who spoke of conversions this time at a function on
Saturday. The PM reportedly wanted the two sides to talk after the Graham
Staines' killings.

"The meeting would to dissolve suspicions and misgivings," Joseph said.
Vaidya called Monday's meeting as "introductory". According to him, the
final date and agenda of the meet would be discussed after meeting
Sudarshan. While the Church leaders felt that September would be the right
time for the meet, Vaidya opposed the idea.

"Statements from each side blaming each other was vitiating the peace of the
country. It was also harming the image of the country at an international
level," the NMC member said.

During the meeting on Monday both sides reiterated their stated positions.
The minorities commission had for the first time organised a meeting between
the church and the Sangh Parivar outfits such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
and Bajrang Dal on July 11 last year in the wake of the attack on churches
and its personnel, but the former boycotted it saying the latter did not
represent the Hindu community at large.

http://www.thenewspapertoday.com/india/inside.phtml?NEWS_ID=25157



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