‘We will create lawyers based on Christ’s teachings’

Recently elected as the treasurer of the Central Committee, the national level body of Christian Legal Association (CLA), Pune, Vijayan Peter Bhaskaran is also the president of CLA, Pune that works towards inspiring Christians in the legal profession and help the masses through law. DNA speaks to Bhaskaran on the upcoming events of the organisation.
 
How successful has CLA, Pune been in its objective to ‘do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before God’ since its inception?
CLA, Pune is in the initial stages and at this moment, we are concentrating on setting up a basic network among district lawyers and other related sources. The objective is to help the masses by inspiring Christians to enter the legal profession. It is a continuous process and we want to reach out to people through NGOs and activists. CLA has, so far, linked up with approximately 600 Christian legal professionals across India . Besides, we have been successfully mentoring students to take up law. The basic agenda is to develop lawyers professionally and spiritually on the lines of the teachings of Christ.
 
What are the problems faced
by CLA?
Financial constraint is definitely a major problem. In order to organise conferences and seminars, funds are required which we lack at this stage. However, we are trying to solve this problem by raising monthly contributions from the members.
Apart from this, though there are several Christian lawyers in the city, very few are active in supporting the cause. We are seeking more involvement of people.
 
How will the recent innovations of CLA, Pune like the free legal centres in City Church, St Ann’s Church, Good Shepherd Church in Pune and the new CLA chapters in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Goa, Nashik and Nagpur help the masses?
These new centres have made law more accessible to people. People are scared to go to courts due to lack of guidance and education. These new centres will help us cater to the needs of masses. We have already filed around 20 cases on domestic violence, divorce and crime through these centres. The new chapters in various part of the state will help us widen our horizon and set up our local networks in backward places like Beed, where people need help.
 
Last year witnessed 1,000 cases of anti-Christian violence across the country. What role is CLA playing in this regard?
CLA is playing an active role in fighting these cases which have been largely reported in Karnataka and Orissa. In Karnataka, justice (retired) Michael Saldanha, who is the backbone of CLA, has already written an application to the prime minister. CLA has managed to run certain convictions against the culprits with the help of its lawyers across the nation.
 
What are the upcoming events and initiatives of CLA, Pune?
We are looking forward to the seminar that is organised in Nashik on January 29 by CLA branches of Pune and Mumbai. Besides, student seminar and a musical programme to raise funds are also in the pipeline, which will be conducted in mid-year. We are opening a new CLA chapter in Ratnagiri for the Konkan belt. Also, India will be hosting the Advocates Asia Conference in 2013.