The Don Bosco Provincial House on Friday held a thanksgiving service for Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the 59-year-old Catholic priest who was abducted in Yemen in early March 2016. Father Uzhunnalil arrived in Bengaluru on the same day. Father Uzhunnalil belongs to the Congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Karnataka and spent several years working for the poor in the State. State Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy welcomed Father Tom on behalf of the State government. Father Tom, addressing the gathering, expressed his gratitude to his countrymen who had prayed for his return. "I wish to thank those who are not present here, thousands and thousands of my countrymen, for their prayers. I was told when I returned to India that Hindus were doing pujas and Muslims praying to Allah for my safety. I see this as a value we Indians are projecting to the world, that we see each other as brothers and sisters," he said. His time in captivity had not dulled his sense of humour, and several times the audience broke into laughter as he spoke about his incredulity that he was really being set free. "On 10th, one of the men who knew a little English came to me and said, 'Tom, I'm bringing you good news. Do you know what it is? We are going to send you home to Kerala.' He brought me a set of clothes and drove me to the desert," said Father Tom. However the first attempt was unsuccessful and he spent another night in captivity. The next day he was again taken to the same spot, were a man in another vehicle verified his identity from photograph on his mobile. "Then I knew I was free from the first group. I still was not sure if I was free." The Home Minister expressed joy that Father Tom had returned safely and acknowledged the services of Christian missionaries to health and education in the country. "Christian missionaries gave importance to education and opened schools in the most remote parts of the country. Even in the health sector, their service is unmatched," he said.
