Southern States - Karnataka

'RSS campaign shocking'

Bangalore June 8. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) in a press release has said that it was dismayed and shocked by the "callous attempts" by the RSS hierarchy to interpret the exhortation given by the Pope to the visiting Indian bishops. "By dragging the papal instructions to a public debate, the RSS was trying in vain to trivialise the major leadership issue in the Central Government," it said.

The GCIC convener said that the RSS vilification campaign had severe undertones of a renaissance of fascism. "We are alarmed by the attempts of the RSS to interfere in the internal affairs of the church. The Pope has motivated the Christian leadership to continue to assert its role in Indian society, social justice and dignity to all sections of society, thus protecting the dignity of individuals from the womb to the tomb, " as Sri Jayendra Saraswati, Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, had said in a recent interview that the papal exhortation meant that, "regardless of what people say, carry on with your service to humanity," he said.

The GCIC took serious exception to the RSS spokesperson, Mr. Madhav's devious attempt to derive political mileage by attributing the papal remarks as a green signal for forced conversion. Assuring people that it was against conversion by fraud, coercion and allurement, the GCIC appealed to the RSS to counsel the "new age gurus and sadhvis", who are aggressively converting in the name of spiritualism, to observe this "conversion dharma".

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