(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The meeting Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the head of the Kerala-based Syro Malankara Catholic Church had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 18 has kicked off a controversy.Kerala state secretary and politburo member of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) Pinarayi Vijayan said the statement made by the cardinal after the meeting amounted to supporting the Hindu nationalist agenda propounded by the Sangh Parivar that Modi represents. In an article on the editorial page of the party mouthpiece ‘Deshabhimani’ Vijayan said the support extended by the Church leader to all what Modi has assured as prime minister had saddened all those who believe in secularism.
“One is forced to think whether Cleemis had made the statement without knowing the steps taken by the Modi government to implement the Hindutva agenda in the field of education and history. The schools under the Church may have to teach Sangh Parivar ideology if the government goes ahead with its attempt to revise NCERT syllabus” Vijayan said.
The senior CPM leader also cited a series of recent statements made by members Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over the Hindutva agenda. He pointed out that Modi had not made any attempt to correct RSS leader Mohan Bhagavat’s statement that all people in India were Hindus.
Vijayan said Modi had also maintained silence when BJP MP Swami Adityanath said in his presence that what Bhagavat was also the stand of the BJP. He said that the debate on common civil code love jihad cow slaughter and conversion following the assumption of power by the Modi government was a clear sign of the move to implement the Hindu agenda.
The CPM leader said that the minorities in the country had hoped that the cardinal would raise their apprehensions about the communal agenda of the BJP. It is said that the Church leader had used the occasion to praise Modi and support his programmes.
The Church head’s meeting with Modi assumes significance in the wake of attempts by the BJP to lure the Christians into the party.
A section of the party had recently welcomed Kerala Congress leader K M Mani the most prominent Christian face in the political scene in the state into the party.
Cleemis has refused to comment on the CPM leader’s statements.
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