As the crisis of trust between the Catholic church in Kerala and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to deepen over the raging violence in Manipur, the Kerala Congress parties now appear keen to galvanise the seething anger among the Christians into a political action.
Ever since the outbreak of violence in Manipur, various church factions in Kerala, particularly the Syro Malabar church, have raised concerns over a growing attack on the Christian religious institutions in the northeastern State. The development appears to have handed the Kerala Congress parties, which traditionally commanded a strong presence among the Catholics of Central Travancore, an unforeseen opportunity.
The rival factions led by P.J. Joseph and Jose K. Mani have been vocal about the concerns of the church right from the initial phase of the violence in May. But with more reports on the riot pouring in, they have upped the ante further by staging a host of events at different levels to match the concern registered by the church.
“The section of the Catholic clergy, who adopted a favourable stance towards the BJP, appears to have realised their folly by now. This brewing of discontent should be capable of tripping the political discourse of Central Travancore once again in favour of the traditional organisations,’’ observed a veteran leader.
The Kerala Congress parties have witnessed a systemic collapse in their support base across Central Travancore over the past couple of decades. Of late, the church too appeared getting increasingly frustrated over the inability of these outfits in offering political solutions to the critical issues of the region such as farm distress.
Worse still, these outfits have been also forced to battle discreetly a growing influence of the right wing among the community as well. The woes for the Mani faction, however, appears to be even greater considering the recent skirmishes between the Catholic church and the Left Democratic Front, in particular the CPI(M), on a handful of issues.
The Catholic church, meanwhile, is of the view that none of the parties in Kerala or elsewhere has been able to highlight effectively the plight of the Christian community in Manipur. “ What Manipur is currently witnessing is nothing but an organised genocide of the Christians. While the BJP is evidently not very keen to stop this cycle of violence, other parties too have not been able to make any effective interventions,” said Fr. Jacob G Palackapilly, official spokesperson of the Kerala Catholic bishop’s Council.
