Indo-Christian hosted the Parliamentarians’ Christmas Celebration 2011

  

Parliamentarians’ Christmas Celebration 2011. The CSF Gen Sec get IICCC Award*

The Indo International Christian Chamber of Commerce (IICCC) hosted the Parliamentarians’ Christmas Celebration 2011, chaired by former union minister, Dhanaskodi Athithan, which was well-attended by a number of union ministers and MPs cutting across party lines. Among the prominent persons seen were -  Pawankumar Pansal (Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs), GK Vasan (Union Cabinet Minister for Shipping), KH Muniappa (Union Minister of State for Railways), B. Narayana Swamy (Union Minister of State for Personnel & PMO), Oscar Fernandes (Congress General Secretary), etc. Prominet among the MPs who attended were PC Chacko, Jesudas Selam, Charles Dias, PT Thomas, PJ Kurian, Mohd Kansal, Mohindarkumar Rai, Anto Anthony, Helen Davidson, CM Chang, SS Ramasubbu, Mithlesh Kumar, Rishang Kesing, MS Swaminathan, Shashi Tharoor, KP Dhanebalam, Helen Davidson, etc.

The students of Ryan International School sang Christmas carols, while bishops of various denominations gave the message of love, peace and joy. The objective of the program was to pray that God blesses India to become a prosperous and powerful nation, with peace and harmony among all. It also gave the message that God loves all irrespective of caste, creed, colour or any other distinction. Earlier in the day, Mr. Vincent Pala, Minister of State for Minority Affairs presented awards to select Christians, who served as role model for the community. Some of these are Dr. Augustine Pinto (Educationist), Dharamprakash Sharma (Ex-MP & Author), Anand Varghese (Pro Chancellor, Chennai Hindustan University), Dr. Joseph D’souza (Operation Mobilisation), Pratap Philip, IPS (TN IGP), Joseph Dias (The Catholic-Christian Secular Forum), Franklin Ceasar (Dalit Christian issue),

The following resolutions were also passed to be included in memorandums to be given to the President, Prime Minister and UPA chairperson at the meeting of businesspersons, professionals and institutional heads. The IICCC herein resolves to raise the awareness of the citizens of India and sensitize the powers-that-be at the union and state levels to the following issues in the national interest:

1.       The government both at the Centre and State level should provide businesspersons, professionals and NGOs protection especially from ulterior motivated bureaucrats, who create obstacles in their nation-building activities.

2.       There is a need for elected representatives, like Parliamentarians and Legislators to execute their responsibilities towards those who elected them, with the knowledge that the Almighty is watching their actions always.

3.       The bills or acts which are in favour of the least and the underprivileged sections of society, like the Right to Information, Education, Food, etc. is streamlined and implemented at the central and state levels effectively.

4.       There should be no discrimination on the grounds of religion, caste or any other distinction and ensure that the Constitutional freedom of religion is safeguarded and the secular fabric of the nation is strengthened.

5.       The special needs of women, youth, children and senior citizens, who are all productive sections of the Indian economy and assets or resources of the nation must be given special priority and their development given greater attention.

6.       The issue of Dalit Christians and Muslims which is long pending since almost 60 years be resolved and Other Backward Class (OBC) status be given to minorities, who are economically backward or from the lower castes.

7.       We need to ensure better Centre and State relations, in order that maximum benefit flows to the common citizens through proper framing of required laws and rules, avoiding confrontation that is not in the nation’s interests.

8.       The governments both at the national and state levels needs to pay special attention to the modern-day social evils and divisive forces that have risen to great heights in the nation, namely – terrorism, communalism, corruption, etc.

The above resolutions were passed unanimously with a voice vote and the IICCC was advised to send the same to the authorities concerned, notably the President, Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson, the concerned union ministers and chief ministers of the states.