by Nirmala Carvalho

Images by unknown “artists” appeared last Friday in the city of Shillong, eastern India, under the status of Saint John Bosco, which is located in front of a Salesian school, and on the walls of another school building. Graffiti depict Pope and Jesus as ‘Wanted’ fugitives, with the sentence ‘Arrest this man’ underneath. Meghalaya State governor is also insulted. “Such blasphemous actions have deeply wounded our religious sentiments,” Shillong archbishop says.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Graffiti with blasphemous references to Jesus and the Pope appeared in the city of Shillong, shocking the local Catholic community as well as the authorities of eastern Indian state of Meghalaya. Images were found under the statue of Don Bosco near the Don Bosco Technical Institute and on the walls of St Anthony's College. The incident comes a few months after a blasphemous cartoon depicting Jesus with a Coca Cola beverage was published in a school textbook on 22 February.

The graffiti, which were wiped clean by police, depicted Benedict XVI as a ‘Wanted’ man; harbouring the sentence, ‘Arrest this man’.

Local sources said the images are connected to an alleged grant of US$ 2,000,000 (noted in the graffiti) by the state government for the re-roofing of two Salesian schools.

Christians, who represent 70 per cent of the population of Schillong, have been accused by other religious groups of being favoured by the authorities. For this reason, the Meghalaya State Governor R.S. Mooshahary was also attacked with graffiti accusing him of corruption and of selling out.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Mgr Dominic Jala, archbishop of Shillong, expressed the shock of local Catholics.

“The Catholic Church of Shillong is deeply shocked by the shameful and condemnable desecration of the Don Bosco monument and the picture of the Pope with words "arrest this man" depicted,” the bishop said. “Such blasphemous actions have deeply wounded our religious sentiments. We have told our people to maintain calm and we will have a one hour prayer vigil on Wednesday evening.”

For the prelate, there is no connection between the anti-Pope graffiti and the publication of a cartoon depicting Jesus in a school textbook in Punjab, which led to clashes between Protestants and Hindu fundamentalists back in February.

“Please do not read too much into this incident, the publisher of the book apologised and the authorities are investigating the incident against the religious and political leaders, but I do not think the two incidents are connected, except that both are blasphemous and offended Christian sentiments,” Bishop Jala said.

At present, “We are unable to understand who or what could have prompted such a malicious portrayal; we are waiting for the investigations to reveal those behind these acts."

• india
• meghalaya
• blasphemous
• graffiti
• jesus
• cartoon
• pope
• wanted
• poster