Thiruvananthapuram: A church in Kerala on Sunday said that Professor T.J. Joseph of the Newman College in Thodupuzha was guilty of preparing a controversial question paper that led to the brutal attack in which his right hand was chopped off.
The professor was allegedly attacked by members of the radical Popular Front of India.
The church circular, read during Sunday Mass, supported the college management's decision to sack him, and said the professor ought to have owned up to his "mistake".
‘Done nothing wrong'
Responding to the circular that was read in parishes in the Kothamangalam diocese, Professor Joseph said: "I have done nothing wrong and therefore there is nothing to own up, and if I'm forced to own up something I have not committed and seek forgiveness, I do not want such a concession from the church."
The professor said he had apologised to church authorities and the college management for whatever problems the question — in an examination in March — had caused. But he added he had done nothing wrong.
The church circular was issued by the Kothamangalam bishop George Punnakottil. It said the controversial question's inclusion was a deliberate decision by the professor, and that there was also an attempt to drag the college principal and management into the issue. It also made it clear that the explanation by the church was an attempt to clear any misconceptions regarding the professor's punishment.
Joseph's sacking prompted protests, and on Saturday there was a protest march by a group to a church in Kothamangalam.
