Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala paying visits to heads of churches on Easter, which fell on Sunday, April 9, in an apparent attempt to woo Christians has evoked sharp criticism from the Congress. Senior party leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said that BJP leaders talk out of both sides of their mouth to Christians. “They should be asked about … attacks on churches over Xmas, dragging pastors off to police stations in the midst of services, & calls for Christians in NE to be stripped of ST status. Which is the real BJP?” Tharoor tweeted.
BJP leaders who paid visits to bishops on Easter included Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, and national executive member and former state president PK Krishnadas. On Saturday, BJP state president K Surendran visited the Thamarassery Archbishop, Mar Remigius Paul Inchanayil. Another senior leader and BJP state vice president AN Radhakrishnan participated in the Malayattoor Church festival on Good Friday and even climbed the Malayattoor hill to reach the shrine but reportedly stopped after a few kilometers.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee head K Sudhakaran pointed out how a BJP minister in Karnataka called for violence against Christians who he alleged were influencing people to convert to Christianity. “The hypocrisy is evident as @BJPKeralam leaders visit Christian homes on #Easter. It is important for people to recognise and reject this hypocrisy,” Sudhakaran tweeted. Karnataka Horticulture Minister Munirathna was recently booked for alleged hate speech against Christians.
Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan said that BJP leaders paying visits to bishops to wish them on Easter day are indulging in double standards and called it laughable. “Everyone should listen to what a BJP minister in poll-bound Karnataka has said. Minister Munirathna said that Christians visit homes to convert people and should be thrashed. The BJP has the same stand for Christians across the country,” Satheesan said.
In a statement Satheesan continued, “Around 600 churches were attacked in the last four years. In some places, even the Christmas mass was stopped. Many people have been jailed, including priests. It is to cover their anti-Christian stand that the BJP leaders in Kerala visit bishops’ houses on Easter day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Syro Malabar Church, Cardinal George Alencherry, has said that Christians do not feel any insecurity in “BJP-ruled India”. In an interview to The New Indian Express, Alencherry said, “Yes, Christians do not have any such insecurity now. But some say if BJP gets absolute power, minorities may become insecure. But I don’t know. We can’t predict all that.”
Alencherry also said, “Muslims (in India) may fear that if Hindus get absolute power they will drive them away. Their fear is probably based on what’s happening in Muslim countries, where other communities are suppressed.” The Cardinal also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a good leader who makes an effort to be one and is successful at it.
Notably, the Syro Malabar Church has been witnessing infighting with a section of devotees opposing the Church Synod decision directing priests to face the altar during most of the mass. The opposing group consists of supporters who want priests to conduct mass facing the congregation. This rift has led to clashes sometimes even inside churches, and a consensus has not been reached yet.
The Cardinal began to lose the trust of a section of devotees after a church reform group pointed fingers at him and other priests over financial irregularities, alleging that the church had incurred huge losses due to its land being sold for lower prices.