ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Church apologises for distorted translation of holy book

A distorted translation of a sacred book of Vasishnavite hymns into church prayer in Sibsagar in upper Assam looked set to snowball into a major controversy, but the district administration intervened in time.

The Sibsagar Catholic Church had published two booklets containing hymns and prayers, which were literal but allegedly distorted translations of the Namghosa, the most sacred book of the Vasishnavites.

This angered the Satra Mahasabha, apex body of the 700 satras of the state, forcing the church to apologise to the people of the state at a press conference last night at Sibsagar.

This comes in the wake of tensions between the two communities in other parts of the country.

Realising the gravity of the situation, the Sibsagar district administration intervened and Additional Deputy Commissioner A K Sarma Roy convened a meeting of both parties to settle the matter amicably.

Satra Mahasabha general secretary Lakhi Kanta Mahanta said the act was "tantamount to sacrilege". The organisation was enraged by the alleged use of the name borgeet and the replacement of the names Ram and Krishna in the hymns with Jesus.

Father Joy Palliaunnel of the Sibsagar Catholic Church, who was in charge when the translation was done and the booklets published, regretted the incident and handed the published booklets to the district administration.

"We regret the matter. We have simply copied some devotional songs for private use in chapels and churches because the local people understand Assamese and we want to make prayers as easy for the Assamese as geets. But, of course, we have changed the names of Ram and Krishna to Jesus. We reiterate that we have no ulterior motive in copying the hymns," the priest said.

According to Palliaunnel, some local people, while translating, misled him about the content and did not inform him that the hymns had been plagiarised.

"We have no intention of discrediting Shankardeva," he said, naming those who had allegedly misled him when they plagiarised the borgeets. He admitted that the incident could have led to communal tension in the area.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report