The country is being polarized on religious lines and his Christian community is losing faith and confidence in the government, says Cardinal Baselios Cleemis
Caravan News
NEW DELHI — In the last three years, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the apex decision making body of the Catholic Church in the country, has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at least twice – the meeting was described by PM as a courtesy call.
But the recent attack on some members of the Christian community in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and the subsequent response by the local administration has forced the Cardinal to say that the country is being polarised on religious lines and the Christian community is losing faith and confidence in the government.
“From the point of Christian community, this whole incident of attack on priests and seminaries in Satna and the state government’s move to file cases against the priests, arresting the poor and the innocent instead of finding the culprits, do not help us to keep our confidence in the government intact. We are losing our confidence in the government,” Cardinal Baselios Cleemis told The Indian Express in an interview. The church leader was referring to the last week incident of Madhya Pradesh.
On December 14, a group of around 42 Christians were detained by the police in Satna after members of Hindu-right group Bajrang Dal accused them of forced religious conversion. Members of the group allegedly attacked the group of Christians and set their car on fire.
Only couple of days back in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, also being ruled by the BJP, another group Hindu Jagran Manch warned the local Christian schools and colleges against celebrating the upcoming Christmas.
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Now reports have come from BJP-ruled Rajasthan about such attacks on members of the Christian community.
“I agree such incidents can happen in a big country… But how do you evaluate the strength and stand of the government? It is the subsequent action and the legal protection are what matter. The country is being divided on the basis of religious belief. It is bad in a democratic country. I want my country to be united in a secular fabric. But now, this country is being polarised due to religious affiliations. We should fight against it,” Cardinal Baselios Cleemis said.
The Cardinal had met the Prime Minister first time in August 2014, about three months after he swept into power, and then in April 2016.
After the recent Madhya Pradesh incident, the Cardinal led a delegation of the CBCI to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (December 20) to express their “pain and anguish and seek justice”.
