The video with select church heads paying a visit and obeisance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Christmas Day, December 25, 2023 with background choir music and words of high praise, raised, eye brows, concern and sharp criticism days after it did its social media rounds. Immediately three prominent Christian voices, Fr Cedric Prakash, Fr Prakash Luis, both Jesuits and John Dayal launched a signature campaign that ran for a week garnering 3,100 signatures at its close on January 3, 2024. The brief note outlined the abject failure of the union government, under Modi to protect the lives of all citizens, Christians and other minorities, be it in Manipur or the rest of the country.
The powerful signature campaign “Not in Our Name! Christmas Celebrations with PM is Not in Our Name” was received with some relief by many though, of course it was also criticised by a few. Father Roby, CMI was believed to have actively been reaching out to priests and nuns, urging them not to sign the Campaign, which among other issues, pertinently questioned why top Church leaders are still not reminding Mr N Modi of the continuing mayhem in Manipur, and the three attacks every day against Christians in India in 2023, as counted by United Christian Forum (UCF).
This morning, the issue was taken further, Father Anand, IMS, Varanasi –hailing from Modi’s parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh (UP) – has circulated an Open letter to the same Fr Roby, CMI, reiterating, in equally strong language why it was a call to duty and conscience for Indian Christians, especially the Church leadership to question a leader, who’s acts of silence, even complicity when hate crimes against India’s minorities, have been widely documented.
AN OPEN REPLY TO FR ROBY CMI
My dear friend Fr Roby,
This letter is in response to your letter addressed to the CRI Delhi, in which you have appealed to the CRI members not to support the signature campaign titled NOT IN MY NAME. The signature campaign is to condemn the participation of the selected Church leaders in the Christmas dinner hosted by the PM and the church leaders’ and the PM’s silence on Manipur issue and the persecution of Christians in different parts of the country.
I have great appreciation for you and your good attempts for dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. God has blessed you with immense capabilities and skills to organize beautiful cultural programs on the theme of inter faith harmony. I was overjoyed when you shifted from Kochi to Delhi to continue this most relevant ministry in the national capital. You are aware that I too am involved in the similar ministry in a small and humble way. In my dialogue with the rural and urban commoners, I see an India different from what PM speaks of and what media shows.
Do you really think that the Christmas party organized by the PM, was an open dialogue as you mentioned in your letter? We haven’t forgotten his visit to the Delhi Cathedral on Easter day where an opportunity for dialogue was denied, perhaps on the pretext of protocol.
You say “we need to guard against those who pretend to be friends..” of CRI. It’s not friends of CRI, but we members of CRI who want you to be cautious and be on guard against that man:
#whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of innocent Muslims killed in Gujarat massacre two decades ago,
#he who has been befooling this nation for the past ten years, with acche din and other innumerable false promises,
#he who has allowed inflation to reach its zenith and India’s rank in the Global Hunger Index to the lowest,
#he who has handed over the nation’s natural resources, land, water, air and sea ports, railway stations, sea and sea shores to his crony capitalist friend almost freely,
#he who has deprived the livelihood and future of millions of farmers, fisher folk and unorganized labourers of India,
# he who has been permanently silent over mob lynching, and so much of violence on the minorities including the Christians of Manipur, Dalits and Tribals,
#he who has destroyed the Indian democracy, replacing it with theocracy and majoritarianism
#he who has destroyed freedom of Press in India… (The list can go on)
Please come to Varanasi, I shall show you his cruel atrocities on Gandhi, Gandhi’s followers and also the Gandhian legacy which he wants to erase totally.
He spoke to you about his good relationship with the Christian community, the importance of Christmas etc. Are you aware that even on Christmas day Christians who gathered to pray were attacked and imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh? Today there are 51 innocent Christians languishing in the jails of UP alone (similarly in the jails of Chhattisgarh, MP and Haryana) including three Catholics, on false charges of conversion. A priest of the Catholic diocese of Varanasi was in the jail for four and half months, and another priest of Allahabad diocese for 81 days, both on totally false charges.
Jesus too was invited to dine with affluent Pharisees. Responding to the invitation, he went, dined with them, but used the opportunity to announce the Gospel and denounce the evil. You silently listened to the Modi (go)-spel (and perhaps were spell bound). Do you think you will ever be able to denounce the evils I have listed above in front of him?
I think you and the other leaders of the Church were herded into PM’s party by Alphonse Kannanthanam, Tom Vadakkan and John Barla who will continue to organise similar parties, but will ensure that none gets a chance to speak on these delicate issues but only listen to the monologue/ soliloquy or MAN KI BAAT of the super performer or the super showman of the political world. The Catholic trio are trying to herd the Christian sheep and shepherds of Kerala and other places into the fold or tent of that wolf in the disguise of a sheep. Alphonse has succeeded in this game of herding in Goa and North East. Jesus calls such false shepherds thieves (John 10).
I am glad that the signature campaign is getting a tremendous support from the religious and laity. It proves that there is an awakening in support of truth, justice, equality, liberty, fraternity, democracy and the rights of the minorities and other marginalized. It’s unfortunate that most of the leaders of the Church are blind to the reality due to the clericalism and institutionalism they are trapped in.
Prophets like Archbishop Peter Machado are exceptions who have the courage of Christ to denounce evil. As followers of Jesus the liberator, we will continue to raise our voice against this slavery of a narcissist, fascist, supremist, hypocrite modern Hitler.
Are you not seeing his skilful designs to make India a Hindu Rashtra?
Or are you pretending to be blind?
Your good friend,
Anand IMS
TEXT OF THE NOT IN OUR NAME CAMPAIGN:
Not In Our Name!
Christmas Celebration with the PM is Not in Our Name!
We are in the Christmas Season: a time when we are all called to internalize and actualize the gifts of joy, love, peace, truth, justice and hope which Jesus our Saviour offers to us!
Today we also need to take legitimate pride in the fact that Christians in India have contributed significantly to the country: in the freedom struggle, as members of the Constituent Assembly, and ever since independence, in every sphere of public life particularly in the educational, medical, social, cultural and political sectors. The services of the Christian community to the poor and marginalized, the excluded and the exploited, irrespective of caste and creed, is unparalleled in the nation today. This fact has been duly and consistently acknowledged by citizens from all walks of life.
However in the recent past, particularly since 2014, Christians in India have been victims of continued attacks and vilification from members of the ruling regime, all over the country. Christians and Christian schools and institutions have been hounded and harassed, their places of worship destroyed, they have been denied their ordinary rights as citizens and been subject to denigration and demonization. The anti-conversion laws which have been put into place in BJP-ruled States are used as weapons against the fundamental right to preach, practise and propagate one’s religion. Celebrations in schools have been stopped and Christians have been arrested without any warrant and put behind bars for no offence of theirs.
Since May 3, 2023, the Christians of Manipur have been subject to constant attacks which still continues unabated and with apparent approval from the BJP Governments both in the State and at the Centre.
In the wake of all this, it is ironic that the Prime Minister hosted around 100 Christian representatives of different denominations on Christmas morning for a celebration. While it is certainly within his right as Prime Minister to host a reception for whomsoever he wishes one naturally would question the intention of this reception when he has not condemned a single attack on the Christians, under his Prime Ministership. Interestingly, while he praised Jesus Christ and waxed eloquent about the services of the Christian community, he did not share remorse or empathy for the situation of the Christians in the country today.
Those invited to the Christmas reception were a select group of Christians. While the invitation was from the Prime Minister, here was an opportunity for them to courteously decline the invite in the light of what has been happening to the Christians in Manipur and elsewhere.
Hence their acceptance of this invite was not in our name!
The Christian representatives who spoke, thanked the Prime Minister profusely for many things! The hard truth is that the Prime Minister and his Government have consistently disregarded their constitutional mandate, be it to the minorities, the Adivasi’s, the Dalits, the backward castes, the farmers, labourers, migrants, etc.
Hence their gratitude to the Prime Minister was not in our name!
When these Christian representatives spoke at the reception, they were giving a tacit approval to the omission and commission of this government.
Hence their words were not in our name!
India today fares extremely badly on every global index be it in the economic, educational, health or social sphere. By their lack of prophetic courage to highlight the grim realities in the country today, these Christian representatives publicly betrayed the Gospel of Jesus and His values of truth, justice, joy, love, dignity and peace. Through their culpable silence, they failed to uphold the values enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Hence their silence was not in our name!
Today we the Christians of India together with conscious and committed citizens pledge to protect and promote the Constitution, Country and Citizens of India and to work with and work for all those who are victims of an unjust, insincere and authoritarian regime.
The following members of the Christian community signed this including Derek O’brien, TMC Member of Rajya Sabha M.G. Devashayam, IAS – retired and John Shilsi IPS, retired
Related:
Irony of 2023: High persecution of Christians, PM hailed by some religious leaders
Tripura: Indian Christians voice protest on rally on Christmas Day