Dominic Martin, the person who claims that he was the one who caused last Sunday’s bomb blast during the prayer meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Kalamassery is not a member of the congregation and has nothing to do with the organisation.
This was disclosed to The Pioneer by TA Sreekumar, spokesman of Kerala region of JW. Three persons (two women and a 12-year old girl) lost their lives and 50 persons were injured in the blast caused by tiffin box bomb and powered by improvised explosive device.
“Martin himself has told the police that he has not attended any prayer meetings of the JW during the last seven years. Neither he nor his parents are members of the sect.
“His association with the JW is through marriage as his mother-in-law and wife are members of the sect,” said Sreekumar in an exclusive interview with this newspaper.
The disclosure by Sreekumar has put the Kerala Police in a quandary as the latter was going ahead with the assumption that the bomb blast was executed by martin without any outside help.
Martin had surrendered to the police within 90 minutes of the blast with the claim that he alone was responsible for the act. Martin had handed over to the police the video film he shot in the run up to the bomb blast including how he procured the materials for assembling the bomb and how he perfected the blast.
The media in Kerala is frightened by the police action against reporters and media houses for questioning the assumption and conclusion by the investigators.
The CPI-M led Kerala Government has issued stern warning to all people not to link the Kalamassery blasts with Hamas or Lashkar-e-Toiba in the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
The State Government has filed a case against union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar for his social media post lambasting the government of Kerala for allowing leaders of Hamas to address meetings in the State.
Sreekumar said that at no point of time Martin has approached the authorities of the JW congregation with any kind of grievances. “How is it possible for a person who has not attended even a single prayer meeting of the congregation allege that ours is an anti-national organization? The motto and objective of the JW is to mould good citizens so that we have good families and good society where all could live peacefully and happily. We teach our members to cooperate with the government, whether it be in State or Centre. Our people stay away from politics, follow the laws of the land, pay taxes and work in government and corporate establishments,” said Sreekumar.
Sreekumar, born-Hindu and later got converted to JW, said that the congregation does not allow religious conversion of any kind.
“We hold the view that religious conversions are against the Constitution of the nation. Even children born to parents belonging to the JW have to undergo lessons in Bible, attend the prayer meetings and follow the life style prescribed by the congregation.
“Then only they would be considered as members of the JW,” he explained.
He said last Sunday’s attack was the first of its kind incident in the history of JW in India. “Our mission is to wait with patience for the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
The JW operates in 240 countries and in India itself there are more than 70 conventions being held to propagate the news of hope. We have been functioning in India for more than hundred years and there have been no complaints against us all these years,” he said.
There are more than 15,000 people in the JW congregation in Kerala.
The life of a follower of the sect is full of prayers and learning Bible. If one wants to join the sect, it is not that easy as one has to be thorough with the teachings of Bible. “Good individuals, good families and high standard of life and happiness everywhere are our mission.
“A committee of scholars with maturity and wisdom lead the JW in India,” he said.
Though the JW had decided to do away with the regional conventions and prayer meetings in the backdrop of Sunday’s mishap, the leadership has given green signal to resume the same from next week, said Sreekumar.
