Amid divergent views emerging from within the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church on the stance to be adopted towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Church leadership here on Thursday clarified that it did not have either affinity or enmity towards any particular political organisation.
In a statement, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III said the Church treated all secular parties equally. “Members of the Orthodox Church work for different political parties and they have every right to do so. Against this backdrop, we cannot support any particular political organisation alone,’’ he said.
The Catholicos reiterated the Orthodox Church’s right to criticise and resist activities by any political outfits that pose a threat to Indian secularism.
The statement by the Catholicos comes against the backdrop of speculations over a section of the Orthodox Church moving closer to the BJP-led government at the Centre and distancing itself from the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala.
Recently, Geevarghese Mar Yulios, Metropolitan of the Kunnumkulam diocese, stated that the BJP is not an untouchable political pariah and flayed attempts to take certain quotes from the Vicharadhara, RSS’ ideological manual authored by M. S. Golwalkar, out of context.
His comments were followed by Yuhanon Mar Melitius, Metropolitan of the Thrissur diocese, who sought to highlight the persecution of Christians during the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat. He termed the BJP’s overtures to the Church a political gimmick ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier last week, the Catholicos had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to New Delhi.
