PM Modi’s appeasement of Christianity is a fail
Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated a much-celebrated Christian superstition in New Delhi on the occasion of Mahashivratri. And that it happened at Vigyan Bhavan, just added to the irony. His riot-wing supporters were shocked to hear the strong condemnation of hatred; his left-wing detractors called it a mere lip-service. He was not his usual self, as tokenism took the front seat in a speech that would make Vajpayee proud. Not a drop of the usual sarcasm he laced his speeches with when he sly-addressed a certain James Michael Lyngdoh. However, one speech does not a secular image make. Under fire for not speaking enough against troublemakers in the light of a series of vandalisation of churches in Delhi, the prime minister hailed the two latest Christian saints of Indian origin.
Both Kuriakose Chavara and Euphrasia Eluvathingal dedicated their lives to social reform and women’s education. The two primarily devoted their lives to Jesus and the Christian faith. Modi celebrated their elevation to sainthood by the Vatican, recognised not for their social work, but because of other people’s superstitions. Unwittingly, the prime minister endorsed the fallacy that if one has bone cancer, a visit to the church may work better than going to a hospital. If the Christian missionaries say the same thing, however, it will be outrageous, and the church might as well be burnt. Recently, the Indian Science Congress invited a lot of media ridicule for unscientific Vedic abracadabra. The Christian abracadabra should invite similar ridicule, if all religions are equal. Will it?
A carpenter claimed that his bone cancer was cured because he prayed to Mother Euphrasia. A boy’s deformity was cured by prayers to Father Chavara. These "miracles" were confirmed to be "miracles" (as if it were science) and attributed to the two miracle-makers, who were already beatified by the Pope. In centrally-controlled Christianity, sainthood has to be certified by Rome; unlike Hinduism, where an Asaram can declare himself a saint. Islam used to have saints, too, but it’s too risky nowadays, and the religion is far too fragmented for a central certification. But let us stick to the saints of the day.
Prime Minister Modi called the lives of Saints Chavara and Euphrasia an inspiration not only to the Christian community but to humanity as a whole. For what? For their devotion to Jesus or their social work? Because his Parivar does not recognise the love for Jesus to be a noble thing. The prime minister said that equal respect for all religions must be in the DNA of every Indian. His supporters, including prominent party leaders, believe that that DNA is essentially Hindu.
While the prime minister’s condemnation of violence and inciting hatred in the name of religion is commendable, the affirmation that all religions are equal and must be respected equally is questionable. The unqualified respect for religions is part of the problem, because that’s not how it works. Even in the land of the great tolerance teacher Barack Obama, neo-Nazis sprayed Swastika on a temple. That’s the IQ-level of an average religious bigot. You want the bigot to respect religions other than his own? Take another nap.
The essence of the constitutional right to religion is equality of people of all religions, not that of religions. The prime minister is right in saying, “The world is increasingly witnessing division and hostility on religious lines; this has become a matter of global concern.” He is wrong in believing that respect for religion can address the concern. A Christian needs to respect Hindus, not Hinduism. A Hindu is duty bound to respect Muslims, not Islam. This mixing of people with their religions is an insult to humanity.
Religions deserve no respect, people do irrespective of their faiths. They are not equal in the eyes of the people. Hindus may pray to Mother Euphrasia for miracles, but such prayers are prohibited in Islam. The neo-Hindus are prohibiting that in Hinduism, too. Different religions have different tolerance levels, and it is getting worse by the day. Islam has an ISIS in its midst, which is worse than the last barbaric group called al Qaeda. Hindus now have people capable of burning alive missionaries, including little children. The call for ghar wapsi gets louder every day. There is an IAS officer going around telling people that if they did not accept Jesus as the saviour, they will burn in hell.
Religion is a matter of personal choice, the prime minister said. He should have stressed on the word personal. The problem with a diverse country like India is that religion is so public that it threatens to turn the idea of unity in diversity on its head. We have experimented with respect for all religions for decades, and the next decade is always worse. Secularism is the best thing to our Constitution, but it’s only in letter. In spirit, our sense of secularism is so warped and twisted that the word itself has become meaningless. True secularism is the withdrawal of religion from public space altogether. If all of them are allowed in the public space and have equal weightage, there is bound to be confrontation, the next one uglier than the last. Peaceful coexistence with all religions allowed equal respect will be a miracle. But will it still be a miracle if the Vatican panel does not endorse it?