Catholic leader’s misquote earns Hindu wrath, fundamentalists go on rampage, attack convent

Mumbai – The misquote of a Catholic leader in a local press was enough to earn the wrath of Hindu fundamentalists who were on a rampage and attacked a convent in Madhya Pradesh.

In a press conference given in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on April 4, for the launch of a campaign on behalf of discriminated Christian Dalits, John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union mentioned the assurances given by India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to the Christian community.

A local paper, Dainik Bhaskar, reported that in his speech Dayal called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS “the Number One enemy of the Christians.” The RSS is the armed wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The quote, “false” according to Mr. Dayal, roused anger among Hindu fundamentalists who on the evening of April 5 went on a rampage and attacked the Carmel Convent School in Gwalior and burnt effigies of John Dayal. Only the timely intervention of the police prevented further damage.

However, the fundamentalists demanded "an apology from the Church" for the supposed anti–Hindu statement, threatening further action against other Church–owned organizations should it fail to do so.

“John Dayal has been misquoted as saying that the church in India was against the Hindu religion,” said Fr. Anand Muttungal, Public Relations Officer and Spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. "We want to tell everyone here that we propagate peace.”

Mr. Dayal later explained what he said to the state government, Gwalior city officials and local religious leaders. Still, he was “grieved and alarmed at the violence in Gwalior against Christians, their church and institutions.”

“I appeal,” he further said, “to the Madhya Pradesh government and the Gwalior administration to take urgent steps to restore the confidence and security of the small Christian community in the city.”

“[P]eople and political groups with extremist and fundamentalist ideas have a right to differ with my views. They even have a right to burn my effigy. But they do not have a right to wreak vengeance on innocent nuns and priests and ordinary Christian men and women,” he said.

“It is quite obvious that I have been mischievously and horribly misquoted,” he insisted. “I had come to Gwalior to attend the Easter Milan meeting, which later became a public meeting to pay tribute to the Holy Father [. . .]. All senior Congress and BJP leaders of Gwalior attended the meeting. In my speech I highlighted the Pope’s focus and emphasis on inter–faith dialogue and respect for different faiths. [. . .] I never attacked any religion.”

“Our campaign has been against fundamentalism, bigotry and violence [. . .]. We have always made a difference between the Hindu faith, which we honor and respect, and Hindutva, which is a political ideology of the Sangh Parivar,” he said. “We believe that it is the Hindu majority and the Constitution which keep India secular and it minorities safe. We work very closely with prominent Hindu religious leaders and social activists.”