Even as the Catholic community in New Delhi and elsewhere are up in arms against the BJP Government at the Centre for “indifference to attacks” on churches, a Catholic family in Tamil Nadu waxed eloquence on the Narendra Modi Government for helping to get a family member abducted by Islamic extremists released from captivity.
John Joseph, brother of Alexis Prem Kumar, the Catholic priest who was abducted by Islamic extremists from Herat province in Afghanistan in June 2014, was “over awed” when his father broke the news to the family on Sunday that he had just received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who told him that Alexis Prem Kumar has been released from captivity by the abductors.
“We have a Government which works even on Sundays. I don’t have words to express our gratitude to the Prime Minister,” John Joseph told reporters at Chennai. later in the day, he and his father Antony left Chennai for New Delhi to receive Alexis Prem Kumar , who is expected to reach the national Capital on Sunday night. The family members said they were indebted to the Prime Minister and his Government for getting the release of Father Alexis, a Jesuit priest, who has been working with Jesuit Refugee Service, a Church-sponsored NGO working among refugees in Afghanistan. The family hails from Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu.
Both Albert Manoharan and John Joseph, brothers of Alexis Prem Kumar had expressed their trust and confidence in the ability of the Narendra Modi Government to get their brother released throughout the last eight months. Union Minister Sushma Swraj had given an assurance to the family immediately after the abduction that the Government would leave no stones unturned do get the 44-year-old priest, an anthropologist turned theologist released.