Mahbubnagar: Christians term Central govt's move discriminatory

Mahbubnagar: The Christian Editors' Association members from Mahbubnagar expressed their objection against the Central government's move to remove the tune 'Abide with Me' in the Beating Retreat ceremony which is to be held on January 29, an event marking end of the Republic Day celebrations.

According to Dr MR Sunder Paul, vice president, Telangana Christian Editors Association, he felt that the present BJP- led government is ignoring the sentiments of the Christian community and exhibiting discriminatory attitude. "The Indian Christian community is completely disgusted at the way the Central government is showing its discriminatory attitude in each and every aspect. The government's attitude is evidently proven with the recent dropping of the tune 'Abide with Me', one of Mahatma Gandhi's favorite Christian praise songs from the 'Beating Retreat' ceremony. We as Indian Christian community view this as a very serious issue and demand the government to immediately restore the traditional song, as it enshrines unity in diversity of the Indian culture," observed Dr Paul.

Explaining further the importance of the tune, Dr Paul said that the tune has been a part of the 'Beating Retreat' since 1950. However, with the Indian government deliberately removing it from the Republic Day celebrations, the entire Christian community is very disappointed. "The government's move has hurt the sentiments of Indian Christians. We are upset with the attitude of the Indian government. It's absurd and crooked to remove a beat from national celebrations just because it is "Christian". The 'Beating Retreat' is a centuries-old military tradition dating back to the days when soldiers withdrew from battle at sunset," explained Dr Paul.

Signifying the importance of the 'Beating Retreat' ceremony, Dr Paul said that with the sound of the trumpet, the soldiers stopped fighting and left the battlefield, gathering their weapons. However, with the government indulging in such acts to hurt a community's sentiment, the very act is an evidence for their hatred towards Christianity. It breaks the national soft thread of unity and sovereignty, opined the Association president.