The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared to be facing a strong socio-political headwind on the eve of Christmas on Tuesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) expanding outreach to the Christian community in Kerala appears to be in jeopardy after the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) allegedly disrupted Christmas carols performed by students of Nallepilli Government Higher Primary School.
It also did not help the BJP that the Palakkad district police were looking for Sangh Parivar activists suspected of vandalizing a tent depicting the birth of Jesus Christ where students of GBUP School, Thattamangalam had gathered.
For one, Yohannon Melitius, Metropolitan Bishop of Thrissar Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, started a damning public debate by noting in a social media post that cribs were venerated in some places and vandalized in other areas.
Notably, the bishop’s appointment came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a Christmas celebration organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi.
Soon, Baselios Marthoma Matthews III, Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan of the Malankara Church, denounced the events as “disturbing”.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the Congress seized on the incident to derail the BJP, with BJP candidate Suresh Gopi’s landslide victory in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, where Christians form a large electoral bloc. Christmas outreach to “minority communities.
CPI(M) and Congress workers protested in Palakkad singing Christmas carols and dressed as Santa Claus.
At the same time, the rank and file of the BJP spread across Kerala, knocking on the doors of parishioners and church leaders to wish Mr. Modi’s festival.
In his Christmas message, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Sangh Parivar’s attack on Christmas celebrations has defamed Kerala. He called for social unity to overcome such “divisive and uncivil forces”.
Opposition leader VD Satheesan highlighted the “sharply contradictory aspects” of the BJP’s efforts to court the Christian community in Kerala. He equated BJP’s “overture” to “Christians” as “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
Faced with strong public opposition, the BJP hit the reset button. Union Minister of State George Kurien immediately condemned the incident.
BJP state president K Surendran said Hindu That the BJP expelled its Wayanad district secretary for anti-Christian comments. He said, ‘Congress has welcomed him into its ranks.
VHP state secretary Viji Thampi said Bajrang Dal and VHP activists had gently pointed out to school authorities that sending school children to perform Christmas carols in nearby homes violated juvenile justice rules. “The police have arrested them on trumped-up charges, he claimed.
published – Dec 24, 2024 at 09:25 pm IST