At a time when the BJP is making serious bid to woo the Christian community in Kerala to gain political mileage in the state, Cardinal Mar George Alenchery, head of the Syro-Malabar Church and a prominent face of the Christian community in India, has come forward in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that Christians are not insecure in the country under the BJP rule.
In an interview given to an English daily, Mar George Alenchery said that Prime Minister Modi is a good leader and he does not go into confrontation with anyone.
“He is a good leader. He makes an effort to be one and is successful at it. He did not go for confrontation with anyone. He has been effective in raising India’s image internationally. When there’s a sense of security among the people, other faults tend to be ignored. He is very receptive and open. That’s leadership. Also, there are many things common between Hinduism and Christianity. The concept of harmony in Hinduism is very inspiring to me,” the Cardinal said.
Advertisement
Calling Modi as a successful politician, Alenchery said the Prime Minister has tried and succeeded in developing leadership at the international level.
The cardinal said that Christians are not insecure in India under the BJP rule and even if the BJP gets complete dominance, he does not think that it will be a concern for the minorities.
“Christians do not have any such insecurity now. But some say if BJP gets absolute power, minorities may become insecure. But I don’t know. We can’t predict all that,” Cardinal Alenchery said.
When asked whether the BJP has a chance in Kerala, Mar George Alencheri said that there is a possibility for all three fronts in Kerala . He added that the church does not have politics, but the believers do.
To a query whether the perception that the Christian community is getting closer to the BJP, the Cardinal said: ”Yes … Sometimes people come and share with me their disappointment that Congress has no leadership and there’s infighting. Similarly, they are unhappy with some policies of the Left government too. BJP won in north India and the LDF won in Kerala because they did good to the people. People will get closer to any party which does good things for them.”
When asked about the BJP’s claim that terrorist attacks or communal riots have come down during its tenure, he said: “Yes, that is correct and that is a good thing. We don’t get to hear any such thing these days. There may be some human rights issues. But then handling terrorists is not an easy task.”
It is to be noted that the Cardinal’s remarks came when Prime Minister Modi was about to participate in the Easter celebrations in Delhi at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi on Sunday evening
In the interview, the Cardinal gave enough indication that the Christian community in the country no longer considers the BJP as untouchable. The remarks of the Cardinal, will give energy to the Kerala BJP to gain political mileage in Kerala by wooing the Christian community
Meanwhile, as a part of the BJP’s push for Christian outreach in Kerala, party leaders visited various Christian religious leaders on Easter day. BJP national vice president AP Abdullahkutty and former state president PK Krishnadas visited Thalassery Bishop Joseph Pamplani in the morning. Bishop Joseph Pamplani’s statement that the BJP will get an MP from Kerala by ensuring the price of rubber at Rs 300 has got a lot of public attention recently
Union Minister of State V Muralidharan visited the Latin Catholic Archdiocese headquarters here and exchanged Easter wishes to the Archbishop Mar George Netto. BJP state president K Surendran on Saturday visited the Thamarassery Archbishop Mar Remijius Paul Inchananiyil. BJP state general secretary AN Radhakrishnan had participated in the Malayattoor Church festival on Good Friday day and had even climbed the Malayatoor hill to reach the shrine.
