Rajnath Singh castigated for 'baseless' allegations against Christians

The anti-Christian tirade of BJP President Rajnath Singh last month was strongly rebuked by the spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, Fr Anand Muttungal.

At a function on Oct. 28, Rajnath criticized Christians for religious conversion and called for an amendment in the Constitution to curb the same.

Sharply reacting to the statements, Fr Anand, in a letter, castigated the BJP chief for inciting Hindus by raising the slogan of conversion. He said the party "did not have any attractive slogan to draw the support of Hindus to the next electoral battle."

The priest cautioned that the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of religion and if it was not observed then "it will weaken the foundation of our country."

Interestingly, Rajnath made the speech while attending the "Amrit Mahotsav" (75th Birthday) celebration of former Rajya Sabha member Kailash Sarang. The function, which was even attended by Fr Anand, contained eminent politicians including former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.

In his speech, Rajnath said foreign missionaries were infiltrating into India and using illegal means to convert the masses. There is threat to internal security due to conversion, he had said.

To this, Fr Anand questioned Rajnath's knowledge about conversions happening around the world and apprised that there were large numbers of foreigners joining Hinduism, Islam etc.

"There are no restrictions in the Christian majority countries against conversion. If you feel that conversion into non-Indian religion cause internal security, it will be very kind of you if you can specify in the case of Christians to which country will they pay allegiance because there are many countries with Christian majority," he responded.

In the letter, Fr Anand also pointed how Christians have served the country in the field of education, health and social service. "There are many persons in BJP who have been educated and associated with us, every year they approach for recommendation too for admission. If your argument is to be believed then you may check their credentials and activities since they are associated and educated in our institutions," he urged.

Fr Anand also highlighted the violence against minorities after the Hindu nationalist party came to power. "Every now and then churches, prayer centres, individuals, Christian educational institutions etc. are subjected to brutal attacks by anti-social elements. And the BJP Government have not done anything concrete to stop them," he rued.

The Christian priest appealed to the BJP chief to "stop making baseless and unsound allegations". Even a law to regulate conversion was sent back by the president calling it "unconstitutional", he remarked.