Over 700 people from the Catholic community on Wednesday staged a silent protest outside the H/West ward office in Bandra against the demolition of Cross in the ward on April 29.
Over 700 people from the Catholic community on Wednesday staged a silent protest outside the H/West ward office in Bandra against the demolition of Cross in the ward on April 29.
The protest was called by assorted Catholic groups including Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS), Save Our Land (SOUL), Watchdog Foundation, Bombay East Indian Association (BEIA) and Police Reform watch among others. The protest was held at 10 am in which prayers and hymns were also recited.
A delegation then met the assistant municipal commissioner of the ward following which a meeting was held in St Peter's Church on Hill Road in Bandra. Community members walked the route to create awareness about the issue by holding crosses and wearing black bands.
"After the protest, we met the assistant municipal commissioner to tell him about our anguish and pain we felt after action was taken," said Rita D'Sa of the BCS, which will be filing a writ petition in the high court. The community will likely file the petition in a few days.
In the meeting, community members reiterated that the cross was on private land and that demolition was illegal. "The ward officer said that since he himself had carried it out, he will not comment on it and that he had followed the rules," said Dolphy D'Souza.
Some members also presented a cross to the ward officer, "I gave him a cross as a symbol of faith," said Nicholas Almeida of Watchdog Foundation.
"We have asked them to gather as many documents in our meeting at St Peter's and help with the procedure to be followed to ensure that they can present the case of crosses in their area," said advocate Vivian
D'Souza from BEIA.
Anil Joesph, a community member, told DNA that the desecration was nothing, but an act of vandalism. "We need to install CCTVs are set up near all religious structures across Mumbai," he said.
Wednesday's incident is the latest of some sporadic incidents of desecration that have the Catholic community up in arms.
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