I was watching the Doordarshan news telecast, this evening, and I saw DD giving a detailed coverage of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement in the Parliament regarding the recent attacks on Indians in the United States. She assured that the government of India is doing everything possible to see that such incidents never occur again. I was very happy, as the citizens of the country has every right to know the government’s version of and its stand on the uncalled for attacks on their countrymen in the US, or elsewhere.
My thoughts suddenly went to Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, who was kidnapped and tortured by the IS men, keeping him in unlawful custody over the past one and a half years. I do not think that the government of India has taken yet any serious steps in getting Fr Tom released from the IS custody. Nor do I see anyone, including the officialdom of the Church in India, taking any serious steps to put enough pressure on the government to take all possible steps to get him released, if he is still alive of which I have serious doubts in my mind, other than staging some weak demonstrations here and there, and of course praying and fasting which alone will not work the miracle needed in this case.
Maybe we have laid more emphasis on the fact Tom Uzhunnalil is a “Catholic Priest”and a “Salesian” and placed very little stress on the fact that he is a citizen of India with equal right to be protected which any Citizen of India working outside the country should receive. I wonder why the Church in India with all the resources available to her has not spoken strongly in one voice, and demanded that Tom Uzhunnalil, an Indian Citizen, should not be allowed to be kept in unlawful custody, tortured mercilessly by the IS, and continue to linger in their custody for this long!. For me, Tom Uzhunnalil is an Indian first, then a Catholic Priest and a Salesian next, if at all that need to be told! Let us forget everything else, and demand that Tom should be released because he is an Indian citizen! Hopefully, many more patriotic Indians will join hands with us.
-Fr Alfonso Elengikal
