Rev. Fr. Victor D’Souza                                                                     Archbishop’s House
Vicar General                                                             1, Ashok Place, New Delhi – 110 001
Archdiocese of Delhi                                                                       Ph: 23343457, 23362058
                                                                                                                                            Mobile: 9868640855
Fax: 91-01-23746575
                                                                       
21st September, 2008

TO ALL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES & RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF DELHI & NCR

Dear Fathers/Brothers/Sisters,

Christians of Delhi are organizing a sit in dharna from 26th September, 2008 to 2nd October, 2008. This decision was taken at a meeting attended by all Heads of Churches, Bishops, Priests, Pastors, Religious and many lay leaders of  Delhi. I am writing to you to inform you the details as well as to seek your wholehearted co-operation for this dharna.

The details of the dharna are as follows:
Venue             : Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
Date & Time  : 26th September 10:00 am till 2nd October 5:00 pm.
Conclusion     : With peace march to Rajghat.

Since this dharna will go on day and night for a whole week, we have worked out a date & time schedule for people from different areas to participate. The details are as follows:
26th Sep (Friday) 10:00 am to 27th Sep (Saturday) 06.00 am : CENTRAL DELHI comprising of New Delhi, Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Old Delhi.

27th Sep (Saturday) 06:00 am to 28th Sep (Sunday) 06:00 am : SOUTH DELHI, comprising of Defence Colony, Hauz Khas, R.K.Puram, Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Greater Kailash, Alaknanda (Kalkaji), Okhla, Badarpur, Pushp Vihar, Sangam Vihar

28th Sep (Sunday) 06:00 am to 29th Sep (Monday) 06:00 am : EAST DELHI, comprising of Laxmi Nagar, Shahdara, Dilshad Garden, Yamuna Vihar, Wazirabad, Seemapuri, Patparganj, Trilokpuri, Mayur Vihar

29th Sep (Monday) 06:00 am to 30th Sep (Tuesday) 06:00 am : NORTH DELHI, comprising of Pitampura, Rohini, Shahbad-Daulatpur, Ashok Vihar, Kingsway Camp, Model Town, Burari, Jehangirpuri.

30th Sep (Tuesday) 06:00 am to 1st Oct (Wednesday) 06:00 am : WEST DELHI, comprising of Palam, Dwarka, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Najafgarh, Delhi Cantonment, Mayapuri, Punjabi Bagh.

1st Oct (Wednesday) 06:00 am to 2nd Oct (Thursday) 06:00 am : OUTER DELHI & GURGAON, comprising of Khera Khurd, Narela, Sonepat, Aya Nagar, Gurgaon, Kanhei, DLF, Kapashera, Palam Vihar, Rewari, Bawal

2nd Oct (Thursday) 06:00 am to 05:00 pm : FARIDABAD and ALL CHRISTIANS OF DELHI and NCR

On 2nd October at 02:00 pm, there will be a peace march to Rajghat. Our dharna will conclude at Rajghat and Christian leaders will present a memorandum to the top government officials. Kindly come in large numbers for this peace march specially since it is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who stood for peace and justice for all people.

Kindly share the information about the dates and peace march with your neighbouring Christian churches and institutions and kindly ensure big attendance on the days of the dharna, particularly on the last day i.e. 2nd October, since it is a national holiday. Though each area of Delhi has been given a particular day, you are requested to come on other days also.

In order to make sure that we have a continued attendance day and night it is necessary that the priests, pastors and leaders of the particular areas should come together to plan out how they are going to ensure that people are there at Jantar Mantar for the entire 24 hours assigned to them.

We also request all the priests, pastors and Christian leaders to organize transport if need be to bring the people in large numbers from your respective areas or zones.

Please talk to and encourage your neighbours and people of other faiths to join us in this noble cause so that we can together ensure the preservation of democratic and constitutional values and rights.

We have very little time to act, but if we work together, then our effort will bear abundant fruit. Unless we come in big numbers we won’t be visible. Therefore, try to mobilize people through all possible medium. Let us together rise up as Christians of Delhi for the cause of our citizens. We want to ensure that the central and state governments will do the needful to protect the citizens of our country specially the minorities.

With warm regards and expecting your whole hearted support,

Yours Sincerely,

Fr. Victor D’ Souza
On behalf of the Organizing Committee