Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Fides Service) - Forced conversion and rights of minorities: in the electoral campaign in India - as general elections draw near 18 April - themes regarding the Christian community hold the stage.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nationalist party presently in government and the political expressions of Hindutva (India for Hindus) ideology, included the question of ‘forced conversions’ in its electoral campaign. Christians are falsely accused of obtaining conversion of Dalits and Indigenous peoples with force or with fraudulent means. Some states of the Federation, such as Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have approved an “ anti-conversion bill” by which conversions must be examined by the magistrate. “This creates confusion between politics and civil and religious rights”, affirm the Catholic Bishops who strongly oppose the measures promoted and adopted by the BJP.
In the electoral campaign fundamentalist voices have also been raised: recently Hindu leader Shankaracharya Nishchalanand Saraswati accused Christian missionaries of working against the interests of India and called for missionaries to be expelled.
From the diocese of Bangalore Mgr. Ignaci Siluvai, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in India voiced his opinion to Fides: “There will be problems after the election if Hindu fundamentalist groups win a large majority of votes. In that case there could be a move to revise India’s Constitution which has always sanctioned a secular nation. And this could cause further suffering for India’s Catholics. In some parts of the country in fact Christians and Christian institutions are harassed and attacked by Hindu fundamentalists. Nevertheless, neither threats nor attacks will stop us from announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ”.
In the meantime in the Christian community there is one particular person who is sure that BJP policies can be changed from within. H.T. Sangliana, a Baptist from Bangalore, in Karnataka state, joined the BJP and is standing for election as a BJP candidate. He says: “Only by entering the arena as a member of the BJP can we make our voice heard. My idea is to try to turn the ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’ into ‘Bharatiya Jesus Party’. I want to take the name of Jesus to the Indian parliament”.
Recently the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (whose Bishop members lead the communities of Catholics the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar rites) called on citizens to vote candidates who respect life, promote human dignity, social equality, religious harmony national integrity. “Every citizen wants a representative who will lead the country to a higher level of peace, harmony and prosperity. Every citizen has the chance to exercise his right to choose”. The Bishops urge Catholics to fast and pray for peaceful, transparent elections and they call on all men and women of good will to exercise their right to vote with seriousness and awareness.
About 670 million Indian citizens over 18 are called to vote members of the federal parliament. The elections were announced on 6 February by the government led by the BJP after it had dismissed parliament six months before the expiry of its mandate.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 1/4/2004 lines 44 words 452)
