The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) just a couple of days before Karnataka state assembly election has dismissed a supposed "fake" mail written by its secretary general about an alleged plan to evangelize an offshoot of Hinduism in the state.
The alleged circulation, which is being circulated in the social media and in Karnataka, said the church has played its part to convince the Congress government to 'divide' Lingayats from Hindus by granting the political sensitive community the 'minority' status.
Dismissing the allegation, the church on May 9 issued an official clarification.
"The circulation of this letter just before the Karnataka elections is a disgraceful mischievous ploy," read the clarification letter, issued by the conference secretary general Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas.
"We reserve the right to take legal action against those involved in making and promoting that letter," it read.
The "fake" issue allegedly written by Cardinal Oswald Gracias to Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore on March 28 has several errors, Mascarenhas said.
"Cardinal Oswald Gracias is the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. He is not the secretary general ... as alleged by those who are circulating and promoting this letter," he said.
The letter was neither written on a letterhead nor carried a signature, he pointed out.
"The language mistakes in that letter point out that it could not have originated from our office," he added.
