The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to become a political force to reckon with in the state of Kerala have not had any significant success over the last few decades. Lately, the party did make some inroads, managing to build a relationship with the powerful Catholic Church in the state, which it had hoped would eventually translate to electoral dividends. The violence in Manipur over the past few weeks has however spoiled these possibilities, at least for now. After many years, the catholic religious heads in Kerala are openly unleashing criticism against the Union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Three months ago, Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, said that Christians are secure in Modi's India, but now, Remigiose Inchananiyil, Bishop Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Thamarassery, on July 7, participating in a protest meet at Kozhikode said, ¨If it is Manipur today, it will be Kerala tomorrow.¨
The Bishop warned that if they do not fight communalism and aggression, there will be no one to raise their voices when the attack targets Christians. “The silence of the people's representatives is frightening. It was a scripted attack in Manipur,¨ he alleged. Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil isn’t the only Christian leader to voice out such anguish.
A week before that, Thalassery Archbishop Joseph Pamplany lashed out at the BJP government terming what’s happening in Manipur a Christian genocide. The bishop had earlier called the violence a clash between two tribes and then changed his stance. ¨In the name of a conflict between the tribes, there were planned efforts to target Christians. Christians within both communities (the Meitei and Kuki) are being targeted. Many incomparable cruelties and murders are happening. More than 300 Christians have been killed, and more than 500 churches have been destroyed. This huge genocide is happening in Manipur,” Bishop Pamplany declared on June 28 at a protest in Kannur.
These comments aren’t just restricted to violence anymore. The disillusionment with the BJP is so severe that catholic bishops who were using terms like ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’, and had earlier joined hands with the Sangh to target Muslims, have also moved a step back. In an interview with Asianet News, Bishop Pamplany opposed all such terms and said there may be some groups who trap women, but that doesn't have any connection to a particular religion. He also disowned the Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action (CASA), a radical right-wing organisation of Christians, and said they have no connection with the church.
Father Jacob Palackappilly, Kerala Catholic Bishop Council (KCBC) spokesperson, told TNM that they initially thought what was playing out in Manipur was a clash between two tribes. “But later, we realised that Christian churches and institutions were specifically targeted,¨ he said.
¨Now, we have anxiety that in BJP-ruled states, we (Christians) are being targeted. BJP leaders have publicly given speeches asking to eliminate us. Some local organisations are attacking Christians in these states, and these organisations have links to the BJP. How do we then believe that they (BJP) are not behind it?” he asked.
One reason why the KCBC’s opinion changed is because of what priests who came back to Kerala from Manipur conveyed to them about the situation there.
Rev Johnson Thekkadayil, chairman of Ecclesia United Forum International, an organisation formed for the protection and rights of Christians, told TNM that the Archbishop of Imphal Dominic Lumon was in touch with the church leaders in Kerala church. Even as the KCBC was formulating its new stand, Rev Johnson Thekkadayil, two lawyers, and two Congress MPs – Hibi Eden and Dean Kuriakose – visited Manipur. Their finding that there was credence to allegations of the state BJP government abandoning the people of Manipur, further agitated the churches in Kerala.
Watch Hibi Eden speaking to TNM on his visit to Manipur here:
Rev Johnson Thekkadayil says that if the church could afford to remain silent after the Chhattisgarh violence, it just wasn’t possible to ignore the turn of events in Manipur. Hibi Eden agrees with Rev Johnson that Manipur was an eye-opener for the Kerala Church.
“The BJP approaches the church for temporary benefits. Christians are targeted in the Northeast the same way Muslims are being attacked in Uttar Pradesh. What is happening in Manipur is an RSS agenda. Bishops (in Kerala) have understood that. The Church should not move close to the BJP for temporary gains like better rubber prices,” the MP told TNM.
Ecclesia United Forum had sent a delegation to Chhattisgarh in January 2023. ¨We had also gone to Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh when there was violence against Christians. We came back and explained to the church the things happening there. They (church leadership) started noticing since then. But they had intentions to get close to the BJP and have a tie-up,¨ he said.
He also alleged that the state government in Manipur conducted a survey from January 2023 among Meitei communities to identify the population of Christians among them. On March 27, the Manipur High Court directed the state government to consider the request by the Meitei tribe to accord them the Scheduled Tribe status within four weeks and send a recommendation to the Union government for consideration. “After this, Kuki and Naga groups conducted rallies in Manipur, and within 36 hours, 251 churches and six Christian organisations were attacked, including both Kuki and Meitei Christian churches. So it was clear that this was not a conflict between tribes or an assault based on a particular tribe identity,¨ he told TNM.
Dr Rev Johnson Thekkadayil says that before the Manipur violence, the Catholic churches in Kerala were on the verge of a tie-up with the BJP. Though he is not a part of the Catholic churches, Rev Johnson says that the BJP had approached him two years ago. “I had a discussion with a BJP minister. I asked him how I could cooperate with a party that looked at Christians as enemies. After that, they stopped communicating with me and had direct talks with the Catholic leaders,” he said.
He pointed out that the BJP had a well-organised plan for the Kerala churches. “Veteran BJP leader and current Governor of Jharkhand CP Radhakrishnan had talks with Christian leaders in Kerala. They wanted to tie up with non-evangelical churches. The main non-evangelical churches they looked at in Kerala were those of the Syrian Catholics, Knanaya Catholics, and Jacobites Orthodox. They were planning a policy of divide and rule among the churches. But this has come to a pause following Manipur,” he alleged.
KCBC spokesperson Jacob Palackappilly denied that the Kerala Catholic churches had any ties with the BJP and said that any suggestion of the same was only a creation of the media or vested interests. “We had a meeting with the Prime Minister of India in April 2023, which was unrelated to politics. We have no particular closeness or aversion to any political party, all those things were created by the media and other political parties with a vested interest,¨ he added.
He admitted that it is a huge concern for the churches in Kerala that they are being targeted in BJP-ruled states.
¨It is the ruling government’s responsibility to ensure constitutional rights and freedom to the minority communities. By attacking us, by bringing anti-conversion laws, they are targeting a community that has contributed a lot to the development of our nation,” he said.