Missionaries in India are criticised by the BJP as was Mother Teresa
A politician from the ruling party accuses the missionaries of being a threat to democracy. Falsehoods are used to "appear in the eyes of the population as the only party that protects Hindu citizens”. As the 2019 approach, such speeches are attempts to get votes.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is using the religious card against Christian missionaries for its own benefit," said Fr Rayarala Vijay Kumar, regional superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in India.
The clergyman spoke to AsiaNews about a recent statement by Bharat Singh, a leading figure in the Hindu nationalist party, who accused missionaries of being a threat to democracy and to the country’s unity and slammed the Congress Party as their stooges.
"It's all false,” an angry Fr Rayarala said, along with others missionaries. “Such words risk deepening even more the cleavages and tensions between religious communities."
In India, the PIME superior said, "the Hindu religion is very tolerant and has always accepted other confessions. But recently the BJP has begun to use the religious card to 'protect' Hinduism and push out other religions.
"On the Internet there are videos where fundamentalists say in public that we Christians have to pack up and go away like during the division of Bangladesh and Pakistan, when Muslims had to move. And how it was before with Hitler’s persecution in Germany."
According to Fr Rayarala, the goal of this campaign against Christians "is to strengthen India’s Hindu component and the [Bharatiya Janata] party. But it is all a fraud."
Another missionary, from the south of the country who asked that his name be withheld, agrees. "The aim is to appear in the eyes of the population as the only party that protects Hindu citizens and has their interests at heart. With elections just around the corner, in 2019, we can clearly understand that all these speeches are aimed at getting votes.”
The missionaries "who work in social outreach, in favour of the poor and marginalised, are seen by Hindu extremists as social subversives who want to convert people. If we are with someone, radicals immediately think that we want to proselytise to them and not simply help or bring relief.”
This was the same accusation "made against Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her detractors said that her only goal was to convert[people] to Christianity, but then none of them did what she did, that is to treat lepers' sores, feed the poor, visit shanty towns, pick up poor kids from the streets."
Christians "speak of humanity and that is why they attack us," the clergyman said. "Who goes to the villages where there is no water, electricity or healthcare facilities? Nobody, other than us. For radicals, our service is a threat. We are trouble that must be eliminated. But nobody takes care of people. If someone dies, no one cares about them, whilst clinics open around the country to treat cows (Hinduism’s sacred animal)".
"The true teaching of religion is to love one other and to seek out the spirituality of the people. But spirituality never excludes humanity. Spirituality saves people, and if religion does not save people, it is only a religion disguised under the mantle of terrorism."
For Fr Carlo Torriani, a missionary for almost 50 years in India, since the government of Narendra Modi took office in 2014, Christians are "under constant suspicion for their activities. The police investigate whether we are converting or proselytising. But when they see the work we do with lepers, the sick and the poor, they are amazed."
It must be stressed that "only some extremist fringes engage in hate speech, especially to keep the traditional caste division unchanged and not subvert the social order on which the country is founded."
"The social outreach work by Christians is generally accepted and well-liked,” said the clergyman who chose to remain anonymous. “The Church can work on its own in its own facilities, dioceses and parishes.”
"The problem is that since the Hindu party came to power, fundamentalists feel emboldened, and they fear that Christians will convert and profess the Gospel. But this danger does not exist because Christians in India are only 2.3 per cent out of a population of 1.3 billion. We are a tiny minority and Church leaders are trying to establish good fraternal relations with the administration, both at the state and federal levels.
"At present, there is a lot of confusion and it is difficult to understand how it will end. Meanwhile, the BJP has become a very strong political party and won elections almost everywhere. This is why its members feel they are the masters, but it is also up to us to show our good faith, by not criticising the government and political leaders."
By contrast, Fr Rayarala does not shy away from talking about politics. He insisted that the claim by Bharat Singh that Congress is "manipulated by Christians" is false. For the superior, "the opposition lacks a credible leader. Current Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does not have a large following. Many hope that Priyanka, his sister, will step forward. She is considered more charismatic.”
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