CBCI chief takes exception to Joseph's remarks

By Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

PATHANAMTHITTA, JULY 10. The Catholics Bishops' Council in India (CBCI) president and the Thiruvananthapuram archbishop Dr Cyril Mar Baselius has taken strong exception to the reported statement by the National Minorities' Commission (NMC) member, Mr. John Joseph, that certain Christian quarters were torpedoing the Commission's efforts to check the attacks on Christians in various parts of the country.

Talking to The Hindu here today, the CBCI president said that nobody could deny that the targets of attacks in UP, Haryana and Bihar in the past few months were Christians.

He said the NMC member should also make it clear which Christian groups were not keen in resolving the problems facing the Christians for they allegedly wanted to continue the flow of foreign funds to them.

He said that `though certain people were opposed to a dialogue with the VHP, Bajrang Dal and the RSS, I am optimistic that the proposed dialogue would bear some fruit.'

However, the archbishop said that he had to study the issue in detail when it was pointed out to him that Mr. John Joseph's statement that the reported attacks were not actually atrocities against Christians.

The CBCI president said there may be many factors behind the issues which included personal issues, religious hatred, etc. But, everybody in country would agree one thing that a hate campaign against the Christians unleashed by various organisations was very much on through out the country which was also a contributing factor to these unfortunate incidents, he added.

The archbishop said that the Hindu community as such is very generous and noble. But the ongoing hate campaign against the Christians in India was most likely to sow seeds of distrust and hatred against the Christians at least in the minds of a small percentage of the people, he said.

`I got a few books that single out Christian rituals in a partial manner. Even Mr Arun Shourie's book `Harvesting on souls' is equally damaging in this context, the CBCI chief alleged.

The archbishop said that the Government should `nip such tendencies in the bud itself so as to save the country from disintegration. It was a welcome gesture from the Prime Minister Mr A. B. Vajpayee when he recently urged the States to seriously handle the law and order problems. But, I do not think that it alone would be enough to contain the problems plaguing the country,' he added.

``It is a fact that the Hindu society as a whole does not accept the VHP, Bajrang Dal and the RSS as its mouth pieces or representatives. Though many of our people were not in favour of having any talks with these organisations, I personally feel that a dialogue is necessary with all these groups so as to resolve the issues lying dormant,' the CBCI president said.

The VHP has publicly stated that it did not have any hand in the reported attacks on Christians in various parts of the country. But, everybody knew that the `inspirations' by certain groups were behind these attacks, the archbishop said.

According to Dr Cyril Mar Baselius, his prime duty as the CBCI president was to promote the message of the Church, the message of love and service as preached by Jesus Christ. `And my endeavour will be to reach this mission to all and everywhere,' he added.

He said that the Christians in India who had extended an excellent contribution in the nation-building process of the country should not be distanced from the mainstream. Instead, it is the Government's duty to ensure them adequate protection and safety, he said.

Welcoming the NMC initiative for a dialogue between the leaders of the two communities, the CBCI president has said that he was optimistic that the proposed dialogue between the leaders of the Christian community and the Hindu community would yield good results as it could unveil the core issue underlying the hate campaign against the Christians.

The organisations, which were behind the reported attacks on Christians and Christian institutions in the country, have openly disowned any hand in these incidents. They would also give their explanations during the discussions, he said.

However, he said that certain reported statements of the NMC like the attacks on the Christians were not pre-planned ones had irritated the people who thought that the Commission should have gone into the details of it more objectively.

The archbishop said that the CBCI was more concerned about the factors underlying these attacks on Christians in various parts of the country. It was high time the Government should initiate a serious investigation into and safeguard the unity and integrity of the country as well, he said.

On Mr. John Joseph's statement over Christian militancy, the CBCI chief said that he did not believe any such outfits exist among the Christians in India.

On a question whether he think that there is an unprecedented spurt in violence under the BJP-led NDA rule, the CBCI president said, `I don't say so. But, the Government was more or less silent on the issue until recently when the Prime Minister had stated that the State Governments should seriously deal with the attacks against the Christians.'

`It is not a mere law and order issue, but a moral question. It is the duty of the Government to preserve the country from chaos,' he said.

`The BJP claims that it stands for or rather represents the rich Indian culture and heritage. But, when the Indian culture faces an erosion, the BJP-led NDA Government should be all the more vigilant,' the CBCI chief said.

`We are not accusing anyone. Our request to the Government is that please look into the issue seriously as the atrocities against the Christians are only the starting point of the issue and we have to really identify its underlying issues. Why the Christians are being targeted should be discussed in detail,' the archbishop said.

The VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore has already said that conversion is a real issue. It has to be discussed in detail, the CBCI said.

`What do we understand by `conversion' ? Even all the Christian groups may not have the same idea on it,' he said.

He said that the `historical nuances and association of the words we use often pose problems in properly designing their meaning and hence dialogue is the only way to sort out the issues,' he added.

The complexity of the word `conversion' has to be studied before having a discussion on it. Conversion to God is the real conversion which nobody could debate. But, that is not what is understood by many, leaving room for unnecessary issues,'' the archbishop said.

He said that very often conversion has been taken as change of one religious system to another with out taking into account the most underlying factor `conversion to God' or the `improvement of man before God' which the Hindu Sanyasins call `transformation' and they are openly preaching it.

He said that Sister Rani Maria was killed in Bihar not because of any conversion. ``It was the money-lenders who killed her for she had organised co-operative societies there, organised the poor people against the bonded labour. People who exploited the poor village folk got up and decided to eliminate the nun who made inroads into the hegemonic society and worked for the poor,' he said.

`It is very clear that the Christian missionaries are engaged in the liberation of man and the improvement of man every where and naturally they were targetted by certain unholy quarters. But, I believe in the dictum Satyameva Jayate and that ultimately the Truth will prevail,' the CBCI chief said.

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