By M K George

Rome: Recently, a friend of mine, a pious Catholic-turned-Hindutvavadi, sent me an article titled ‘233 reasons why you should join BJP.’ I did not read it, just because my mind could not absorb that amount of fake news.

Then came the news — 500 Christian candidates supporting BJP are in the fray for the Panchayat elections in Kerala. To my mind, there are only two reasons why a Christian would become a BJP member/supporter: either she or he is politically naïve or she or he is following the Church in Nazi times. Both are bad news for the Church.

Political naivete

Remember, for a Christian his or her final judgment is based on how you treat the poor and homeless (Mt.25). If anybody thinks after the last five years of experience, especially so post Covid-19, that the BJP is for the poor and downtrodden it is absolute ignorance.

How were the migrant labor treated post lockdown of the country? With lathis and chemical sprays. How are the farmers being treated now on the streets of India? With tear gas and water cannons. If anyone thinks that the BJP is for the poor and marginalized, look at the data of economic performance. “Things have gone pretty badly wrong… It has taken a quantum jump in the wrong direction since 2014. We are getting backwards in the fastest-growing economy,” Amartya Sen said.

How are Christians, other minorities and social activists treated?

It is good for those Christian BJP candidates and their supporters to ask how the Christians are being treated in India. “Hate crimes against Christians in India, including instances of murder, rape, and arson, have risen by 40 percent in the first half of 2020, according to a new report. The report, by campaigning group, Persecution Relief, noted that the “disconcerting” rise has taken place in spite of a three-month national lockdown.”

The RSS, which is the ideological wing that rules the party has a clear agenda. To establish a Hindu Nation. “The ‘Hindu nation’ as the RSS sees it, has three specific ‘internal threats’ — Muslims, Christians and Communists.” Violence against Muslims has been far worse.

Look at the 16 human rights activists in jail now. They are there so that others learn a lesson. If you oppose the ruling regime, you will be put behind the bars. I know one of them personally, Father Stan Lourdusamy. He is not what the investigation authority is trying to make him out to be. He is man of and with the poor. But who cares?

A simple way to judge

To judge on this issue, let me suggest another simple way for most of us who are not sophisticated. Listen to men, who we know mean good for the people. Amartya Sen for example. Or his co-author Jean Dreze. Amartya Sen once said, “The country was not a very happy or just place before the Modi government came. There were great inequalities. These inequalities have been magnified and made into a standard part of living. There was a certain amount of shame around the inequalities, which have somehow been eliminated. We have to ask: why has that been so?”

Or, listen to our own senior journalist brother, John Dayal. He said, ‘NGOs complain about the crackdown on their work. NGOs are needed in India for children’s education, support for the sick and help for the poor. Every Indian government, but especially the current one led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, has been hostile to international organizations and media scrutiny. The party is against Western governments when they “raise questions about the treatment of Christians, Muslims and Dalits.” Or as shown recently, even on farmers.

Perhaps, one of the best analyses of the current situation in Kerala is this: “…confuse (the voter) and rule is the new political strategy that sounds much better than divide and rule! (Karuna John). Talk of development and help the corporates. Talk of unity and allow the local goons to attack the minorities. Thus goes the strategy. And imagine, 500 ‘Christian leaders’ have fallen victims!

The Church following the Nazi times?

“The role of the Church during the Nazi years was always, and remains however, a matter of much contention. Many writers, echoing Klaus Scholder, have concluded, “There was no Catholic resistance in Germany, there were only Catholics who resisted.” The Vatican policy meant that the Pope never challenged Catholics to side either with National Socialism or with Catholic morality. In a letter of autumn 1941 Pius XII wrote to Bishop Preysing, “We emphasize that, because the Church in Germany is dependent upon your public behavior…in public declarations you are duty bound to exercise restraint” and “requires you and your colleagues not to protest.” (Wikipedia).

The Church has always been and is likely to be cautious. But will there be Catholics who will resist as in Nazi times?

Church should wake up

The leadership as well as every Christian should become aware of the strategy of the ruling party to undermine democratic values, the Constitution, and the poor for whom and with whom the Church is called to be.

Pope Francis said, “We are faced, then, with a choice between two possible paths …a solidarity grounded in justice and the attainment of peace and unity within the human family, which is God’s plan for our world,” while the other path, he warned, “emphasizes self-sufficiency, nationalism, protectionism, individualism and isolation.”

It is time that the Church spoke out (and lived) loud and clear: We stand for the poor. We stand with the poor. We refuse to accept exclusion of any kind. Fraternity is our answer. Any party that stands for hatred, division and double talk is not our partner.

Pope Francis said it clearly, ‘we are all brothers and sisters’.

(Father M K George is a Jesuit social activist.)