Christians in Darjeeling hills, plains give BJP a second thought

"If Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister, he will pass an anti-conversion bill, while he has a thorough agenda against Christians… We need a government who will be for Christians, not against them …” says a message Christians are circulating in Darjeeling Hills and the plains of Siliguri on mobile phone chat application, Whatsapp, and social networking site Facebook."

President of the United Christian Minority Society, an apex body of Christians in the three Hill sub-divisions, Catholic Bishop Stephen Lepcha said even though they are not worried about the BJP, but that the concern stems from the fact that the RSS, a Hindu nationalist group, is supporting it.

“As the RSS firmly believes in one country and one religion, the BJP coming to power with its backing may lead to religious freedom in the country being curtailed,” Bishop Lepcha is reported to have told The Telegraph.

He is further quoted as having said, “The RSS plan to introduce the anti-conversion bill in parliament and all the state assemblies is a thing to worry about, as this will go against the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution,” but at the same time he is said to have been “praising the development plans being rolled out by the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.”

The Telegraph also quotes CNI pastor in Siliguri, Abhilak Thakur as admitting that “a BJP dispensation at the Centre may do more harm than good for the Christians, he says all his church members are free to cast votes on their own will.”

Allaying political fears about the BJP, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who is an alumnus of St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling and who has scripted history in Nagaland by becoming the chief minister three consecutive times, has said.

“I don’t know why certain people are against the BJP. They (BJP) have ruled the country before and they have not taken drastic steps against minorities when they were in power…”

He added, “In Goa, which is known as a Christian state, the BJP is in power and they have not passed any laws which are against minorities. Therefore, allegation against BJP of being Hindutva and communal by the Congress is to blackmail the minorities and play the vote-bank politics,” he added.

As an editor/Admin for TheDC, personally I think that religion has never been a factor in Darjeeling and should never be a factor. We have lived in harmony through all the political parties, andolans and various other socio-political upheavals.

We remain united as One and should remain the same, no matter which party comes to power.

If Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister, he will pass an anti-conversion bill, while he has a thorough agenda against Christians… We need a government who will be for Christians, not against them …” says a message Christians are circulating in Darjeeling Hills and the plains of Siliguri on mobile phone chat application, Whatsapp, and social networking site Facebook.

Despite NDA’s prime ministerial candidate and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi making fervent efforts to shed his party’s Hindu-hardliner image, Christians in the region are worried that the party, backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), may form the next government at the Centre and formulate policies to curtail the rights of religious minorities.

While a section of the Christians in the Hills believes that the BJP may take an ‘all secular stand’ once in power as it will be voted in by people belonging to all caste, communities and religion, and other parties are bound to support it in forming a government, others feel the party coming to power means moves like the passage of the anti-conversion bill in parliament.

Catholic Bishop Stephen Lepcha, also the president of the United Christian Minority Society, an apex body of Christians in the three Hill sub-divisions, says they are not worried about the BJP, but that the concern stems from the fact that the RSS, a Hindu nationalist group, is supporting it.

Often criticised as an extremist group, RSS is known to have been engaged in acts of violence against minority religious groups in the country.

“As the RSS firmly believes in one country and one religion, the BJP coming to power with its backing may lead to religious freedom in the country being curtailed,” Bishop Lepcha says.

“The RSS plan to introduce the anti-conversion bill in parliament and all the state assemblies is a thing to worry about, as this will go against the right to religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution,” he adds, however, praising the development plans being rolled out by the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, the Christian population in the Hills and the plains of Darjeeling and Japlaiguri, too, share Bishop Lepcha’s fears.

Jordan Henry, a member of the Church of North India (CNI) in Siliguri, says he feels insecure whenever he thinks of the BJP at the Centre. “The party has done things in the past that have made Christians look at it with scorn,” he says. A Catholic faithful at the Our Lady Queen Church at Pradhan Nagar in Siliguri gives a flat “no” when asked if she wants a BJP government at the Centre. “I shiver when I think of the anti-conversion bill and the past violence against Christians in the country,” she says.

CNI pastor in Siliguri, Abhilak Thakur, is cautious. While he admits that a BJP dispensation at the Centre may do more harm than good for the Christians, he says all his church members are free to cast votes on their own will. “We are holding fasting prayers among our members for the upcoming elections,” he adds.

In Darjeeling, a member of the United Church of North India, who requested anonymity, says the BJP may not be his choice, despite the Modi wave that has swept across India. “Though repenting its past deeds and trying to make up for the Hindu fundamentalist image it has created for itself and though trying hard to woo Christians and Muslims, I, as a Christian, must be careful when it comes to the idea of voting for the BJP,” he says.

However, in Kalimpong, a senior protestant pastor said all that the Christians in his area want is a “good and preferably secular government” at the Centre. “We have not named any party, but we have been praying to God so that he gives us a good and secular government,” he said, on condition of anonymity.

Bishop Lepcha, meanwhile, says Christian leaders in the Hills are meeting political leaders with an 8-point charter of demands that include providing the ‘Gorkha certificate’ to Christians in the Hills. The certificate comes handy when people in the Hills wish to join the defence forces and the police. While the other communities have already been given the papers, the Christians have been left out due to a report of a 2004 Anthropological Survey of India that states that Gorkhas belong to both the Hindu and Buddhist fold and are also an admixture of both the religions.

According to him, they will be meeting BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate for the Darjeeling constituency, SS Ahluwalia, in Sonada on Tuesday, while they also have plans to meet the Independent Lok Sabha candidate in the Darjeeling constituency, Mahendra P Lama.

Albert Rai, a protestant in Kalimpong, however, said the BJP may not be able to go against the Christians if it comes to power, as the party will not have an absolute majority and other secular parties will certainly support it in forming the government.

However, according to BJP’s West Bengal state president Rahul Sinha, his party believes in equality and impartiality and that it will reach out to the religious minorities and address their issues. “We (our party) are Indians first, and there are enough educated people in the minority communities who can understand our party’s policies,” Mr Sinha said over telephone from Kolkata.

ASHISH PRADHAN, SNS

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