THE CHURCH AND CHRISTIANS IN THE INDIAN SCENARIO | KAIROS GLOBAL | JULY 2024

Author: Fr Suresh Mathew Pallivathukal OFM Cap

Intro: Fr Suresh Mathew Pallivathukal OFM Cap writes on the Church’s role in the present Indian political situation. 

‘The Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the building of a better world, and she cannot fail to contribute to the betterment of society,’ said Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti (All are Brothers), his most acclaimed third encyclical. 

Though the Pope does not advocate electoral politics, he makes a special mention that the Church cannot renounce the political dimension of life which involves people’s good. The Pope’s reference assumes significance at a time when the Indian Church stands perplexed before the current regime. 

The Church could be apolitical if politics is viewed only from an electoral or party angle. But politics also refers to activities aimed at improving people’s lives. If so, it means speaking up for good governance and raising voice against bad laws. Hence, without getting into electoral and party politics, the Church can play its role in the politics of the country. The Pope’s words should ignite a spark, energise it and help play its role in ensuring a just society. The role model of the Church is none other than Jesus Christ, who minced no words in challenging priestly class and castigating its supremacy. He gave a damn to laws that were creating hurdles and raising barricades in doing good to people.  He took head on the injustices thrust upon the people by the ruling class. The Church also has John the Baptist as its guiding spirit. He had openly challenged and questioned the ruler’s injustice and awakened the human conscience against it. The time is ripe for the Church to reiterate its role, modelled after Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. 

At a time when governments are building walls separating people and breaking down bridges among them, the Church has to swim against the current. It has to become an institution to ‘build bridges and break down walls.’ 

Holiness is often understood as being detached from worldly affairs and politics is deemed as the worst among the so-called worldly affairs. On the other hand, if holiness is understood as being in the world and transforming the world by one’s presence and actions, then politics need not be shunned, but taken seriously.

Politics is not limited to party politics and elections. It is only one dimension of politics. Politics is the art or science of government and governance. Governance consists of making and amending laws, implementing laws, formulation and implementation of policies for the welfare of the people, maintenance of law and order for securing life and property of the citizens and ensuring rights and justice to the citizens when their rights are violated and justice is denied to them.

Our country is passing through one of its most difficult times wherein the wealth of a handful of billionaires is skyrocketing while the majority of people see a steep fall in their income. This cannot happen unless the ruling class and the decision-taking people are in tandem with the rich and the powerful. 

Unfortunately, the prophetic voices which once echoed in the face of injustices have gone feeble and faint.  It is time to take an unequivocal stand on issues; it is unjust to keep quiet in the face of injustice, oppression and exploitation. The Church will be failing in its duty if it remains a mute spectator or reacts feebly against those who trample upon people’s rights. It becomes incumbent upon Church leaders to stand for social justice and not to be seen in cahoots with the ruling class which fails ordinary people.

Politics in India has become highly communal and the government has become more cruel and insensitive to the people who have elected it and whom it is bound to serve by the commitment it has made under the Constitution of India.

Christians’ right to be Christians is no less constitutional than the rights of those following the majority religion. If there are forced conversions, as alleged by the Hindutva forces without any rhyme or reason, there are laws in this country to take care of it. The courts have not relegated that power to individuals or organisations. 

The spurt in attacks has phenomenally gone up after the pran pratishta at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on 22 January 2024. The BJP governments and the Sangh Parivar offshoots are good at one thing: raking up non-issues to turn the tide in their favour when the going gets tough. 

Recent developments in some states ruled by the party are testimonies to these opportunistic moves devoid of any principles or rational explanation. The Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to conduct a survey of the Christian churches and institutions is a case in point. It is a sinister move as various wings of the government are in possession of the complete data on this count. Moreover, the survey covers only Christians, and not every community in the state, exposes the suspicious motive behind this vile decision. The Chhattisgarh Government has proposed to introduce an anti-conversion Bill in the Assembly which is seen as yet another move to persecute Christians. There is no dearth of laws in the country that could take care of forcible conversions, if any, as alleged by the government. Hence bringing in another law is nothing but an attempt to hound Christians in every possible way. 

The scripts for the attacks and assaults on minorities seem to have been written well in advance by senior Hindutva functionaries. A BJP legislator in Madhya Pradesh in 2021 made their objective explicit when he said, ‘Make India Chadar Mukt, Father Mukt’ (Make India free of veil-wearing Muslims and Christians). 

Again in 2021, more than 1,000 people had gathered in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh for a Band Karo Dharmantran (Stop Religious Conversions) rally. Addressing the gathering, Parmatmanand Maharaj, a far-right Hindu leader, urged the people to ‘arm themselves with axes to teach Christians indulging in conversions a lesson.’

Such exhortations are an ‘advanced version’ of what former RSS Sarsanghchalak MS Golwalkar said: ‘The minorities can stay in this country as second class citizens “claiming nothing…not even citizen’s rights.”’ Whatever be the excuses and pretexts given by the Hindutva protagonists, their objective is beyond doubt: Make India a Hindu Rashtra and reduce the minorities to second class citizens as envisaged by M S Golwalkar, the second sarsanghchalak of the RSS. The government might try to sweep the attacks under the carpet, terming such incidents as isolated ones indulged in by fringe elements.

In a democracy the government has to make policies and decisions in accordance with the constitution, taking into account the well-being of people, irrespective of the party in power and its ideology. The core values or the goals, as mentioned in the preamble of Indian Constitution, are sovereign, socialist and secular democracy, justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. 

The government in power irrespective of the political ideology has to strive to realise these goals or values. The core values enshrined in the Constitution of India are very much similar to the values of the Kingdom of God, the vision of Jesus. When the government deviates from the path of the Constitution or violates the provisions of the constitution or denies the rights of the citizens, it is the right and duty of every citizen to criticise it. For the disciples of Jesus, it is part and parcel of their holiness. 

The present political situation in India, characterised by rampant violation of human rights, denial of justice and basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of India, and domesticated media is definitely against the situation of the Kingdom of God. Human rights and the dignity of the individuals are the foundation of the kingdom of God. Holiness demands a proactive response to this unholy situation by the followers of Jesus. 

In 1971, the Synod of Bishops published a document entitled ‘Justice in the World’. The synodal document in the section on ‘The Gospel Message and the Mission of the Church’, speaks of sin as follows, ‘in the face of the present-day situation of the world, marked as it is by the grave sin of injustice, we recognise both our responsibility and our inability to overcome it by our own strength. Such a situation urges us to listen with a humble and open heart to the word of God, as he shows us new paths toward action in the cause of justice in the world…while the Church is bound to give witness to justice, she recognises that anyone who ventures to speak to people about justice must first be just in their eyes. Hence we must undertake an examination of the modes of acting and of the possessions and the lifestyle found within the Church herself.’

Pope Francis’ exhortation in Fratelli Tutti that the Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the building of a better world, or must not fail to reawaken the spiritual energy that contributes to the betterment of society is an invitation and a reminder to all people of good will to get involved in politics. 

Fr Suresh Mathew is a Capuchin priest working in Amritsar, India. He is the editor of the Indian Currents weekly.