Church leaders on March 29 slammed the attacks on Christian communities in Manipur and North India, and called for a united stand against divisive forces that seek to terrorise people in the name of religion and race.
Archbishop Thomas J. Netto of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram underscored the need to fight and defeat narrow-minded approaches expressed through legislations such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Dark forces are unleashing violence upon Christians in Manipur and North India, yet there is no effective intervention on the part of the authorities, he said.
Archbishop Netto was addressing the faithful after a Way of the Cross procession jointly organised by Christian denominations in State capital Thiruvananthapuram as part of the Good Friday observance.
Church leaders have come out strongly against the attacks on Christians at a time when election campaigns in Kerala have picked up pace in the run-up to the April 26 Lok Sabha election.
Archbishop Netto said the need to adopt a strong stance against such disruptive forces should be clearly understood. “We should make good use of the opportunity to clearly express our opinion,” he said.
He also urged Christian denominations to stand united to fight for minority rights, and the freedoms of religion and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
Thomas Tharayil, Auxiliary Bishop of Changanacherry (Syro-Malabar Church), urged caution against forces that attempt to terrorise the people in the name of religion and race.
The Indian Constitution, as is the case with the Constitution in any civilised nation, guarantees all minorities the conditions to live without fear, Bishop Thomas Tharayil said. “If even one individual, be it the weakest individual in a nation, lives in fear, then we should be able to consider it the failure of the entire nation,” he said.
The Way of the Cross procession is traditionally organised as a joint procession in Thiruvananthapuram by the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
BJP responds
Responding to the remarks made by the church leaders, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, talking to reporters, said minorities in the country do not face any threat from the Narendra Modi government. Mr. Muraleedharan said he cannot respond to the concerns raised by the Church leaders without listening to the full text of the speech. But he went on to add that he did not feel that the Christian community harboured any such concern.
BJP State president K. Surendran said in Wayanad that nobody’s citizenship was being questioned. The CPI(M) and the Congress were unleashing propaganda during the election season, he said.
