Mumbai: A day after FPJ reported the anger in Mumbai's Roman Catholic community after a Muslim trust named a proposed school in Bandra after the Mount Mary Church, the area's MLA, Ashish Shelar, has written to the Mount Mary Educational Trust to change the name so that the name is not confused with the church and its school in the vicinity.
Shelar inaugurated the school in August after opposing a religious structure on the same plot. In a letter to the trust on Wednesday, a copy of which has been marked for the senior police inspector of Bandra police station, Shelar demanded a change in the school's name to 'honour' the sentiments of the Christian community and to avoid any confusion with the existing school.
Shelar said the Mount Mary area gets its identity from the Mount Mary Church, a holy shrine of reverence for the Catholic community and Mumbaikars, and an iconic cultural landmark. The Mount Mary Church runs a Mount Mary School in the area. The current name of the school Mount Mary International School gives an impression that your school is related to the Mount Mary Church or Catholic community.
Hence i demand that a new name be chosen for the school, not incorporating Mount Mary or any such word identified with the Catholic community or church, Shelar's letter said. The letter added that the educational character of the school be maintained.
On Wednesday, after Shelar sent the letter to the trust, residents reported that the school name on the board was changed hurriedly. "Mosque name changed to Excellence International School..Stickers are being pasted currently," a message from a resident said.
In response to a request for a comment, the Mount Mary Educational Trust said, "Yes, received (Shelar's letter) and we will soon do the needful."
However, some residents are alarmed at the prospect of a school coming up on the narrow St John Baptist Road. Melwyn Fernandes of the Association of Concerned Christians said, "They used Mount Mary's name only for obtaining the building's construction and relevant permissions from BMC."
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Vicky Misquitta, team member of the Mobai Gaothan Parishad, an association of East Indian Catholics who have a close association with Mount Mary, said, "We thank MLA Ashish Shelar for his prompt action by issuing a letter to change the name of the proposed school. We would appreciate it if Ashish spoke to the residents and resolved their other issues. Locals around this site know what is best for them and their future." MGP had asked the Archbishop of Bombay and the Mount Mary Church to intervene and stop the trust from using the church's name.
