By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: India’s Minority Affairs Minister on May 24 claimed that the federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured inclusive growth of all communities, including Christians.
“Whether it is Muslim community or Christian community, or any other community, the government is treating all equally,” asserted Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi after meeting with a delegation of the Church of North India (CNI) leaders in New Delhi.
The minister said he met the delegation to discuss issues related to education sector for minorities. He claimed that the Modi government has broken every barrier including caste, religion and region as it moves forward to “inclusive growth” that does not leave out even a single Indian from the benefits of development.
The slogan, “Sabka saath, sabka vikas” (together with all, development for all), that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on his first Independence Day speech in 2014, aims to bring development to every community in the country, the only the Muslim member of the federal cabinet said.
The minister met the Protestant delegation in the wake of a controversy over a Catholic prelate’s appeal for prayers for the nation.
Mohit Hitter, secretary of the CNI’s Delhi diocese, expressed happiness over the interaction with the minister. “The meeting was encouraging. After all, we feel that we are not alone. The government machinery and the ministry are with us,” he told reporters. He also asserted that they belong to “an Indian Church” that is serving the people of India.
However, the minister as well as the Christian delegation evaded questions regarding the controversial May 8 letter of Archbishop Anil J Couto of Delhi.
The letter that was read in all parishes and religious institutions under the Delhi archdiocese on May 13 speaks of “political turbulence” in the country that threatens the “democratic principles” enshrined in the Indian Constitution and “the secular fabric of the nation.”
Some television channels and rightwing politicians highlighted the letter as another example of the Church’s interference in Indian politics. They also read into the letter the Church’s alleged “anti-Modi” sentiments and accused the archbishop of acting at the behest of the Vatican to destabilize India.
On May 23, the Legal Rights Observatory, an NGO, said it would approach the Election Commission of India for action against Catholic religious leaders who try to influence elections in the country.
Its convener Vinay Joshi said the commission had ignored their earlier complaints against Church leaders indulging in politics during election in several states. “That is the reason the Church felt emboldened to come with such a public statement before the general election,” he alleged.
The NGO wants the commission to issue a notice banning Christian Churches from indulging in open or secret political activities, take stringent action to stop misuse of religion during election, launch a probe into the Catholic Church’s conspiracies to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the general election.