New Delhi
Humbled, mocked and almost defeated in the just concluded general elections whereIndian minorities - Muslims and Christians chiefly understood to have voted against him; but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is either unfazed or is still trying to reach out to Christians.
During his just concluded visit to Italy at the invitation of Giorgia Meloni for G7 Summit, the Indian Prime Minister also called on Pope Francis and hugged him and shared lighter moments with him.
"Met Pope Francis on the sidelines of the @G7 Summit. I admire his commitment to serve people and make our planet better. Also invited him to visit India," the Prime Minister tweeted.
Modi had in fact invited the Pope even in 2021 when he had visited Italy and Vatican Cityand met the Pope. Earlier, during election campaign this year, he told a TV channel -- "I have invited him to visit India....Maybe he will fix his programme (for India visit) next year".
All these bring us to a closer scrutiny not only of Modi's two meetings with the topmost/supreme Catholic leader; these actually make people and analysts debate Modi'sand his party Bharitya Janata Party's relationship with the Christians.
In fact, India has only ZZ per cent of Christian population including Baptists and Catholics.
From time to time, Modi and other BJP leaders have tried to reach out to Christians.In some cases, efforts have yielded political dividends. In Goa and in the northeastern state ofNagaland, the BJP has had their own Deputy Chief Ministers.
Senior Naga politician M Chuba Ao - also a Christian - is BJP's national vice president.
"I have never faced any contradiction in my being a devout Christian and my party cherishingfirm nationalism and discarding minority appeasement - something the Congress and the Leftand other opposition parties have been doing," Chuba told UCA News.
However, there are issues. The BJP government is from time to time accused of creating hurdles for funds transfer from overseas to Christian organisations.In many places reports surface from time to time that Christians have been attacked and so on.
In Manipur during clashes of 2023, a number of Churches were burnt down and so BJP detractorssay these cannot be dismissed as mere ethnic clashes between Hindu Meities and ChristianKukis.In fact, reports say a number of Meitei churches were ransacked.
In fact, Christians in the north east -- even in states like Nagaland and Manipur -- where they votedfor the BJP -- in the 2024 elections voted against Modi. All provincial and BJP nominees infour states Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and also Manipur were defeated.
A senior Christian Congress leader from the region Kewekhape Therie says, "The mandate 2024 message is that the northeast voters do not agree to anti-Christian operations".
This is a veiled reference to BJP and more to the RSS -- the fountainhead of Hindutva politics inIndia and it often works as 'moral guardian' to the Modi-led BJP. In fact, Modi's invitation to Pope to visit world's most populated country has a RSS angle to it.The Sanghparivar fountainhead does not approve of such visits as they fear Pope's visit willrekindle and boost the conversion process from Hindus to Christians.
In the past, RSS radical leader Indresh Kumar had told a pre-Christmas meet of tribalsin Delhi (2021) -- “Conversion causes differences. It causes hatred, it creates conflict ... so if we want to make the world conflict-free, there is a need to respect all religions.”
(refer https://www.ucanews.com/news/hindu-leader-tells-indias-christians-to-stop-conversions/95420)
There is another controversy related to Modi's meeting with the Pope.
A post by the Congress party's Kerala unit mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Pope Francis on the sidelines of the G7 summit was later deleted and the party alsoissued an apology.
The post, which has since been deleted, featured a picture of PM Modi with the Pope and the caption ran : "Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!"
Kerala BJP president K Surendran tweeted, "The @INCIndia Kerala 'X' handle, seemingly run by radical Islamists or Urban Naxals, continues to post derogatory and humiliating content against nationalistic leaders. Now, it has even stooped to mocking the respected Pope and the Christian community."
BJP national IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya wrote: "After mocking the Hindus and deriding their faith, the Islamist-Marxist nexus in the Congress has now come down to insulting the Christians. This, when Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving Congress President, herself is a practicing Catholic. She must apologise to the believers".
Modi and BJP leaders have been trying to win Catholics in Kerala as well.
In 2021 during Kerala polls, a master of symbolism and a powerful communicator, India's Prime Minister Modi made a Biblical reference and said:"Judas had betrayed Lord Christ for a few pieces of silver ... just like that Left Democratic Front government has betrayed Kerala for a few pieces of gold":
In 2021, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said, “Keep making efforts to bring people who had left Hinduism and ensure that they can rejoin the Sanatan Dharma. The fear could not hold you back for long. We will have to ensure no one leaves the Hindu religion. Those who have left will be brought back to our family".
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