Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 2 After coming under attack from various Christian leaders and the Opposition on a statement made against Bishops for taking part in the luncheon meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last week, the Kerala Minister for Culture and Fisheries on Tuesday withdrew his statement and apologised for it.
In a controversial statement made last week, Saji Cherian said, “These Bishops, when they got the call forgot issues like Manipur and after having cake and wine, they forgot everything.”
This statement drew a lot of flak and Cherian’s sudden apology came hours after the president of the Kerala State Bishops Council, Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis said they would not cooperate with the state government till the minister apologises.
In his statement issued on Tuesday, Cherian said, “There were two parts of my speech and one part was that I strongly feel that the Bishops should have raised the Manipur issue with the Prime Minister. The second part was about cake and wine. While I stand by my first statement, the second part, I have now realized, has hurt people. Hence, since people are hurt and I got calls from Christian leaders also, I apologise for it and I withdraw it.”
“My statement as a whole was a political one about the fears and concerns of the minority communities, Muslims and Christians, and I stand by that and it should have been raised,” added Cherian.
Earlier in the day, State CPI(M) secretary MV Govindan remarked that they do not subscribe to what Cherian said and Jose K Mani, the chairman of the third-biggest ally of the ruling Left-Kerala Congress(M) said now that the minister has apologised, the issue is over.
Cherian is known for shooting his mouth off and had to resign as minister in 2022 for his curt remarks on the Constitution and later after the Kerala High Court shot down pleas demanding his dismissal as a legislator, he was sworn in again last January.
Now, all eyes are on the dinner hosted by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday and it remains to be seen if the Christian leaders will participate in it after the apology by Cherian.
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