By Verghese V Joseph –
Bengaluru: In a moving tribute, all Christian denominations from Bengaluru came together today to offer homage to martyred souls of the 49 Central Reserve Police (CRPF) who died on February 14 in what is considered as the worst attack ever on security personnel at Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The homage was organised under the aegis of All Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Development. Bishops, pastors and priests from all denominations participated in the march.
The solemn proceedings, with a participation of nearly 1200 people from all walks of life, began with candle-lit procession from United Theological College (next to Archbishop’s House) on Miller’s road at 6.30 p.m. and proceeded towards St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.
The cathedral choir welcomed people with angelic songs. As a mark of solidarity, there were 10 bishops from Karnataka who took part in the procession in presence of large number of priests, nuns and Christians coming from different parts of the city.
In his welcome speech, Fr. Faustine Lobo, Pontifical Mission Organisation national director and PRO for the Church in Karnataka extolled the brave acts of the paramilitary soldiers and said they needed the prayers of the church.
Rich tributes were also paid to the 33-year martyred soldier from Mandya H. Guru, son of Ponnaiah and Chikkolamma couple of Gudigere village near Bharathinagar in Maddur taluk. Guru, who had come to the village on holidays, had gone back to serve the nation last week. Guru had got married to a girl from Sasalapura village near Sathanur only six months ago. At the end of the event, an offering was taken from the people that would be handed over to the soldier’s family.
In his touching message, the Archbishop of Bangalore, Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado said the soldiers offered the supreme sacrifice for the country and for the safety of its people. Drawing a parallel, he said, “When there’s breath of life, there no identity. When identity is there, there is no breath of life.” He passionately urged people to stand united in this moment of grief and also exhorted the political leadership to make every efforts to give peace a lasting chance.
Underlining the uniqueness of India, he recalled that the CRPF team leader who was killed in the attack was a Muslim and that India is made up of such patriots from varied religious ethnicity and that is the strength and no other country in the world has this uniqueness, the archbishop added.
“While we offer special prayers to the martyrs who laid their lives for the nation, we ask God to offer eternal peace to the souls of all the 49 brave soldiers and also pray for the unity of the nation. Let us also pray to God for the families who are left in grief,” he added.
Floral tributes were offered to the martyrs. A scripture reading, Prayer of the Faithful and also the Lord’s Prayer was offered. Archbishop Machado concluded the event with a prayer and the all the 10 bishops then gave the final blessings to all the gathered people.