The Catholic Bishops Convention of India (CBCI) has issued a forceful condemnation of latest statements made by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who used an alleged dialog with the late President Pranab Mukherjee to hyperlink Christianity with anti-national actions.
Talking in Hindi at an occasion in Indore on January 13, 2025, the place he introduced the ‘Nationwide Devi Ahilya Award’ to Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Champat Rai, Bhagwat claimed that in his first assembly with then-President Mukherjee, that they had mentioned the RSS’s ‘ghar wapsi’ programme. As translated by The Indian Categorical, Bhagwat alleged that Mukherjee had praised the RSS’s work, claiming that with out it, “30% of tribals” would have been affected. In a telling second that exposed his rhetorical technique, Bhagwat narrated: “I stated, — would have turn out to be Christian? He stated not Christian, however anti-national. That is what he stated.” By way of this narrative building, Bhagwat appeared to intentionally set up an equivalence between Christianity and anti-national actions, whereas utilizing Mukherjee’s alleged phrases to legitimise this viewpoint.
Following these claims, Bhagwat elaborated on his views relating to conversion: “If conversion comes by way of an inner calling, it’s nice. We consider all types of prayers are proper. But when conversion is achieved by way of allurement or by way of drive then its actual intention will not be non secular enlightenment however growing affect by way of uprooting.”
The CBCI, in its assertion launched on January 16, questioned each the timing and veracity of those claims, noting that they emerged solely after Mukherjee’s demise in 2020. “We don’t consider the assertion to be true and spoken by the previous president, as a result of we maintain him in nice esteem for his contribution to the nation and the respect for pluralistic secular ethos of our motherland,” the CBCI assertion asserted.
The bishops’ convention significantly criticised what it termed “right-wing compliant journalism and submissive media, degrading the impartial and fearless media, the acclaimed fourth pillar of Indian vibrant democracy.” The assertion identified that it was “unlucky that the thrice banned group, connected with the sort of violent Indian historical past as has seen over the previous a number of a long time, is allowed with impunity to name the non-violent, peace loving and repair oriented Christian neighborhood as anti-nationals.”
Rev. Vijayesh Lal, Basic Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, talking to Christian At this time, uncovered what he noticed because the underlying motivation: “Mr. Bhagwat’s statements replicate traditional RSS positioning. The tribal communities are fixed reminders to the RSS that it’s the tribals who’re India’s authentic inhabitants, a proven fact that contradicts the Sangh’s personal narrative. Because of this the RSS is so decided to impose Hindutva ideology upon them.”
The timing of Bhagwat’s claims seems significantly vital provided that Mukherjee’s personal public statements, together with these made at an RSS occasion in Nagpur in 2018, had emphasised that nationalism couldn’t be outlined by any single faith. Throughout that occasion, Mukherjee had particularly quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Rabindranath Tagore to emphasize the significance of secularism and inclusion.
The CBCI highlighted the irony in Bhagwat’s narrative: “Is it not the violent Ghar Wapsi program of VHP and different comparable organizations, curbing the train of freedom of conscience of economically disadvantaged tribals, the true anti-national exercise?”
In defending the Christian neighborhood, the CBCI emphasised the Christian contribution to nation-building, which they famous was “well-known, appreciated and acclaimed in numerous fields resembling freedom wrestle, training, medical care, social upliftment.”
The controversy emerges at a vital political second, as opposition events spotlight tribal rights and caste census as key points forward of upcoming elections. The RSS and its affiliated organisations have lengthy campaigned in opposition to conversion of tribals to Christianity, with a number of outfits just lately pushing for the elimination of reservation advantages for transformed tribals.
When approached by The Indian Categorical about these controversial claims relating to her father, Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee declined to remark.
The CBCI has known as upon media shops, political leaders, and parliamentarians to acknowledge and reply to what they describe as a harmful try and equate spiritual minorities with anti-national components. Their assertion warned that “broad publicity to such unverifiable and motivated statements are susceptible to divide communities by inciting violence and selling hatred.”
“The actual difficulty is the best to train freedom of conscience, a basic proper underneath Artwork. 25, by the tribals and different weak who too are entitled to stay a life with human dignity as enshrined within the Structure of India,” the CBCI assertion concluded, urging deal with financial empowerment and academic enlightenment quite than “falling into the scheming and propaganda of highly effective and oppressive sections.”
