'Christians are proud Indians but not Hindu': CBCI slams Mohan Bhagwat's speech
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New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops Conference Of India (CBCI) has come down heavily on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement ‘Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra’ among others calling them ‘misleading and deceptive’.
Addressing the media at the 100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons lecture series, Bhagwat said ‘Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone follows ‘Bharateeya’ culture – so nobody is ‘Ahindu’ (non-Hindu). Every Hindu must realise he is a Hindu, because being Hindu means being responsible for Bharat’, The Wire reported.
Responding to question whether Muslims are allowed in the outfit, RSS leader made it clear that Christians and Muslims could join the Sangh but only after keeping their ‘separateness out’.
‘No Brahmin is allowed in Sangh. No other caste is allowed in Sangh. No Muslim is allowed, no Christian is allowed in the Sangh. Only Hindus are allowed. So people with different denominations – Muslims, Christians, or any denomination – can come to the Sangh but keep your separateness out,’ he was quoted as saying.
Questioning Bhagwat, the CBCI in a statement pointed out ‘the devious suggestion that Indian Christians are also Hindu’ saying that ‘Indian Christians are proud Indians and proudly ‘Bharateeya’ but not Hindu’, referred to a Supreme Court judgment rejecting the plea to use words such as ‘Hindustan’, ‘Hind’ for India.
Urging Indians especially Christians to use constitutional measures to protect constitution, the CBCI slammed Bhagwat’s statement that India is a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, terming it a ‘nefarious attempts to convert India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
Highlighting violence against Christians in the country, CBCI particularly pointed to the report of the Justice Venugopal Commission constituted by the government to enquire into the 1982 Kanyakumari communal violence.
The CBCI also cited a 2024 issue of RSS-affiliated ‘Panchjanya’ pointing out how it contradicts Bhagwat’s comment on caste.
CBCI quoted from the report of the Justice Venugopal Commission, which reads as follows:
‘The RSS (Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh) adopts a militant and aggressive attitude and sets itself up as the champion of what it considers to be the rights of Hindus against minorities. It has taken upon itself to teach the minorities their place and if they are not willing to learn their place, to teach them a lesson. The RSS methodology for provoking communal violence is: a) rousing communal feelings in the majority community by the propaganda that Christians are not loyal citizens of this country; b) deepening the fear in the majority community by a clever propaganda that the population of the minorities is increasing and that of the Hindus is decreasing; c) infiltrating into the administration and inducing the members of the civil and police services by adopting and developing communal attitudes; d) training young people of the majority community in the use of weapons like daggers, swords and spears; e) spreading rumours to widen the communal cleavage and deepen communal feelings by giving a communal colour to any trivial incident.’