A Christmas feast hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a group of Christian priests and community leaders at his official residence in New Delhi has created controversy.
The event was facilitated by the Indian Minorities Foundation, a pro-Sangh Parivar organisation. Several prominent Christian leaders attended the lunch, including Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of India and Archbishop of Bombay; Paul Swarup, the Bishop of the Diocese of Delhi, Church of North India; John Varghese, Principal, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi; and Bishop Thomas Mar Antonios. They listened to the Prime Minister’s address and posed for photographs with him. One of them gifted Mr. Modi a sculpture of Infant Jesus.
As expected, Mr. Modi did not refer to the sensitive issue of mass killings, including of Christians, and the destruction of churches in Manipur, and the alleged atrocities committed against the community across the country. He used the opportunity to recall his frequent meetings with Christian leaders during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister and said that he “proudly acknowledges” the contributions of Christians — from the freedom movement to their “active participation” in social service. He said that Christians have played an important role in “giving direction to society”. He added that the benefits of development taking place in India have been reaching many Christians, including the poor and deprived.
However, the reported failure of the participants to broach the issue of the alleged violence against their brethren across the country and the killings in Manipur did not go down well with a number of priests across India and some politicians in Kerala. Some community leaders launched a signature campaign denouncing the participants for failing to highlight the “grave injustice” meted out to the community in Manipur and at large. Some of them also stated that Christians were reportedly attacked even on Christmas in Uttar Pradesh. Soon, a war of words ensued between the priests of various denominations who took sides on the contentious issue.
On December 30, Shaiju Kurian, the diocesan secretary of the Malankara Orthodox Church, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 30 in the presence of Union Minister V. Muralidharan, was removed from his priestly responsibilities. It was during a Christmas celebration organised by the Pathanamthitta district committee of the BJP that Mr. Kurian and a few Christians joined the party. The diocesan council has formed a commission to probe the complaints.
The developments have left a political impact in Kerala where the Church has a decisive say in electoral politics. Saji Cherian, the outspoken Minister in the ruling Left Front government, lambasted the priests who attended the lunch. Mr. Cherian said that they enjoyed wine and cake at the meeting but had failed to speak about the violence in Manipur with the Prime Minister. Later, he withdrew the words ‘wine’ and ‘cake’ from his statement after facing stiff opposition from the Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council.
Sensing that the Minister’s words had hurt the sentiments of some sections of the clergy, the CPI(M) quickly distanced itself from the controversy and left Mr. Cherian to defend himself. Mr. Cherian, a State Secretariat member of the CPI(M), stuck to his political stand and consolidated his position by reading out data from a report of the United Christian Forum, an organisation that compiles data on atrocities against Christians in India. He said that there had been around 400 anti-Christian attacks in 2023 alone.
The controversy comes at a time when the BJP’s Kerala unit has been trying to mend relations with the commuity after realising that it cannot make electoral gains in the State without winning the confidence of the minorities, especially Christians. BJP leaders visited priests on Christmas to talk of the Modi government’s achievements.
Though the Christmas feast hosted by the Prime Minister was aimed at improving the BJP’s relationship with the community, it has left a bad taste in the mouth of many Christians and their spiritual heads in Kerala. A meeting convened to win over the community members may not succeed when the wounds of recent communal incidents have not healed, and a large number of Christians continue to believe that they are being persecuted in India.
