THE CONTROVERSIAL POPE AND HIS CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS

NEW DELHI: Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on "disturbing signs of religious intolerance in India" have put Christians here on the defensive but opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called them "highly objectionable.

LONDON/NEW DELHI: The domestic dispute over religious conversions got an external dimension on Friday 19th with an increasingly assertive Vatican coming down hard on India for initiatives taken by BJP governments to enact anti-conversion laws.

Thirteen months into his papacy, Benedict XVI upbraided India’s new Ambassador to the Holy See, Amitava Tripathi, as he presented his letters of accreditation, with the grim warning that there were "disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions of the nation, including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom."

This was a reiteration, though sterner, of the seven-year-old message put out by the Pope’s predecessor, late John Paul II, on a visit to India in 1999 that religious conversion was a human right and it would be unconstitutional for India to ban it.

The Pope’s warning comes at a time when the emotive issue of conversion has again hit the surface following attempts to outlaw conversions in a BJP-controlled state.

A Bill passed by the Rajasthan assembly, which evoked strong protests from Christian groups, Left and liberals, has been lying with President APJ Abdul Kalam after it was referred to him by governor Pratibha Patil, a UPA government appointee.

In the full text of the pope’s comments to Tripathi, seen by TOI, Benedict XVI, once dubbed the ‘Panzerkardinal’ and 'God’s Rottweiler,' said the attempt to restrict religious freedom "must be firmly rejected as not only unconstitutional, but also as contrary to the highest ideals of India’s founding fathers, who believed in a nation of peaceful coexistence and mutual tolerance between different religions and ethnic groups."

Back home, the foreign ministry, usually sensitive to any whiff of interference in India’s internal affairs, chose to tread cautiously when approached for a response to the papal strictures.

"It is acknowledged universally that India is a secular and democratic country in which adherents of all religious faiths enjoy equal rights," it said.

BJP, however, did not have any compunction in taking on the hardliner Pope. It called his comments "grossly unjustified and an unnecessary interference in our internal affairs."

 

NEW DELHI: Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on "disturbing signs of religious intolerance in India" have put Christians here on the defensive but opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called them "highly objectionable".

"The pope was trying to reiterate the freedom of conscience guaranteed on the universe declaration of human rights," said Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).

In a strong message, Pope Benedict XVI, who took over the reins of one billion plus Roman Catholics in the world 13 months ago, spoke to New Delhi's envoy to Vatican Amitava Tripathi about some Indian states banning religious conversion through legislation.

"There are disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions of India, including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom," the pope was quoted as saying.

New Delhi has reacted carefully to the remarks and reiterated its secular and democratic credentials.

Said Joseph: "It is true that religious freedom is guaranteed in the Indian constitution. But it is not ensured as it should have been. It is not ensured everywhere in the country without discrimination. Oppressive forces are there."

Joseph said the pope was trying to the draw the attention of the Indian government to the issues that have been disturbing the Christian community.

BJP-ruled Rajasthan has recently passed legislation banning religious conversions, but it has been awaiting President APJ Abdul Kalam's assent.

Party leaders are angry over the pope's remarks.

 

"If conversion is a right, re-conversion is also is a right. Will he agree to it?" asked Malhotra.

"States like Orissa and Madhya Pradesh made a law to ban conversion during first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's period. The state governments found that Christian missionaries were crossing the limit.

"I think even Christian doctrines say conversion by force or allurement is wrong. How can we accept it then?" he asked.

Dilip Singh Judev, an MP who has been involved in the re-conversion drive in north Indian states, said the pope's reaction had come "out of desperation".

"They are not able to convert Hindus any longer. He is worried now," Judev said.

Malhotra's BJP colleague in the Lok Sabha, Uday Singh, said the pope was "well within his right to express concern about the welfare of Christians as the head of the religious group".

"But when it comes to the law and legislative process in a democratic country, he should have used a little more discretion," Singh said. "Our reaction should also not be sharp."

BJP and Hindu groups had severely criticised the Pope's predecessor John Paul II's call for conversion in Asia during his visit to India in 1999.

(courtesy: TOI network)