Mumbai (
AsiaNews) - TJ Joseph , a Christian teacher accused of blasphemy
in 2010, following which a group of strangers cut off his right hand and part
of the arm, has finally been acquitted. The
court of Thodupuzha in Kerala today heard the appeal filed by the teacher and
acquitted him of all charges. A
ruling , Sajan George , president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (
GCIC ) told AsiaNews, "for which we must thank the Indian judicial system
. The case of Professor Joseph was one of the darkest pages in Kerala's recent
history ."
It
is March 2010, the teacher, a professor at Newman College, was accused of
blasphemy by the Islamic fundamentalist group Popular Front of India ( PFI ) . According
to the extremists, he added offensive questions about Muhammad to an exam
questionnaire. Under
constant threats, the man apologized publicly for his "unintentional error
" .
A
few months later, however , a group of strangers attacked him in Muvattupuzha (
Ernakulam district ) , cutting off the hand and part of his right arm . TJ
Joseph survived the attack, but in September the same year the school
authorities fired
him, without any possibility of a pension.
According
to Sajan George , the most serious aspects of this episode " was the
attitude of the police, who registered the complaint against him and also
arrested him, and of the institution , which has suspended him from duty . Fortunately,
the Mahatma Gandhi University, to which Newman College is affiliated, revoked
the decision of the school authorities and have offered him his job back".