Dimapur, October 9 : The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has questioned the reasons behind the Nagaland Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being in ‘denial mode’ about the latter’s connection to religious persecution of minorities in India, especially of Christians.
The NPCC issued a press release listing out elaborate events over the years connecting the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its units such as the VHP and the BJP, to atrocities against Christians.
“Whatever has happened against Christians, has happened in BJP ruled states and by BJP frontal organizations. It has escalated when BJP came power in 2014. Anti-Christian activities flared up from Gujarat BJP government. They started burning Holy Bibles, raping nuns, burning church buildings, persecuting pastors by way of parading them on donkeys with half shaved heads and Christian schools closed,” the NPCC’s statement began. “Christian sanctified days are engaged as working days. After the BJP government came to power, they have declared Christmas Day as Good Governance Day and Good Friday as Judges’ Conference day.”
Now , the NPCC stated, the Hindu nationalists want to disturb the sacred festivities of Christians and “let people forget Christmas and New Year Holy days in times to come by changing the financial year ending to the month of December from what is presently conducted in March.”
People will have no time to celebrate the festival and their holy days, the NPCC stated. The Congress also accused the BJP of changing school and university syllabus. “Hindi and Sanskrit are compulsory in schools and they intent to enforce in universities also. The BJP Government is working very hard to change the nation to Hinduism,” the press release stated.
The NPCC cited some of the anti-minority upheavals in India: Dara Singh, a Bajrang Dal member who was convicted for leading a religious mob that murdered Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6) on January 22, 1999.
“Bajrang Dal is a frontal wing of VHP, member of the RSS—the soul of BJP. Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (the sister organisations of BJP) are the most accused Hindu organisations for violence against Christians in India,” the NPCC reminded.
Likewise, the Congress reminded, in light of anti-Christian violence in Karnataka during 2008 by Bajrang Dal activists, the National Commission for Minorities had accused the Karnataka government of serious lapses in handling the situation. “They were found directly responsible for allowing the violence to spread, and claimed the police failed to solve the issue effectively as the violence continued. They also clarified that there were no reported complaints of forced conversions registered in the state. During the violence, waves of attacks were directed against Christian Churches and prayer halls.”
Also, on the 13th of October 2008, the National Integration Council of India called a special meeting chaired by Dr. Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India and raised the voice against the spread of anti-Christian violence in India.
“Today even Raj Bhavan Kohima has done away with invocation prayers that was customary in the past. There is nothing to reflect freedom of religion in the whole of state programs,” the press release stated.
To cite incidents individually will only consume space but it is common knowledge that anti-Christian activities exhibited by BJP have been seen and reacted to, by the world. What more evidences should a Christian look for? There is no reason for a Christian having faith as small as a mustard seed, to still support BJP and NPF who have surrendered to BJP without any regional contents. They do not behave like regionalists anymore. They are ‘YES’ regional party to BJP. They are at the command of BJP. They believe in money and power. They have lost faith. They talk high of regionalism but have lost regional character altogether.
“BJP will be rooted-out by May 2019. One must also not forget that the BJP is the RSS’s brainchild. It is the RSS’s political wing. BJP submits its progress card to RSS Kanpur HQ. It functions under the directive of RSS HQ. And we all know RSS was founded by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who believed in the principle of the rule by 80% Hindu racial purity,” the NPCC added.
