Delhi Palm Sunday row: serious attack on religious freedom, says Cong
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New Delhi: Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday alleged that the denial of permission for the 'Kuruthola Pradakshina' or 'Palm Sunday' procession in Delhi amounted to a "serious attack on the religious freedom" and "selective targeting" to silence minority voices, reports PTI.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress MP from Kerala's Alappuzha registered his "strong protest and deep concern" over the denial of permission for the procession to the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi, a church "deemed significant enough for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grace with his presence during Christmas and Easter".
"The decision to prohibit this peaceful religious procession represents a serious attack on the religious freedom guaranteed under the Constitution. The 'Kuruthola Pradakshina (Way of the Cross Procession)' on Palm Sunday, which occurs a week before Easter Sunday, is a cherished tradition within the Christian community, symbolising devotion and communal harmony," Venugopal said.
"The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi had been carrying out this peaceful religious procession for the last 15 years and, therefore, denying permission without concrete reasons raises questions about the government's commitment to upholding the fundamental right to practice and profess one's religion freely," he said in his letter to Shah.
Religious processions are an integral part of many faiths in India, and restricting them without transparent and justifiable reasons undermines the secular fabric of the country's democracy, the Congress general secretary-in-charge organisation said.
"This isn't mere oversight; it's a deliberate act of suppression. The government's refusal to offer even a shred of credible reasoning for this ban lays bare its motives: discrimination dressed up as policy," he alleged.
"This selective targeting underlines the calculated agenda to silence minority voices while amplifying others, tearing at the very roots of our secular democracy," Venugopal said.
He urged Shah to investigate the circumstances that led to the Delhi Police denying permission for the procession and take immediate corrective measures to ensure that the constitutional right to religious freedom was protected and respected.
"The government has a duty to facilitate, rather than obstruct, the peaceful expression of faith by all communities," the Congress leader said.
Tagging his letter to Shah, Venugopal said in a post on X, "The BJP can't even keep up its 'so-called pro-Christian' gimmick for a single week. First, the Organiser article targeted Church properties, and now the Delhi Police has denied permission for the sacred procession on the holy day of Palm Sunday." He also asked if Christians in Delhi were excluded from Article 25 of the Constitution that guaranteed freedom of religion.
"Since when did practising faith become a threat? This is not an isolated incident -- it's targeted discrimination. Wrote to the home minister, to whom the Delhi Police reports, against this decision," Venugopal said.
