BJP-Church Honeymoon is Over

The raging violence in Manipur appears to have effectively ended the Catholic Church’s relationship with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala.

Interestingly, it is once again the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Thalassery Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church Mar Joseph Pamplany, earlier accused of co-opting the national party on the pretext of ensuring better prices for rubber, who has taken the plunge by openly disapproving the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Manipur.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), the apex body of Catholic Churches in Kerala, has followed suit with its sharp criticism of the ruling party and its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

“Over 300 institutions under the Church have been vandalised and Christians belonging to both the Meitei and Kuki tribes are being selectively targeted. The ongoing violence in Manipur forms part of a larger plot by the Sangh Parivar to eliminate the Christians in India,” says Jacob G. Palackapilly, official spokesperson of the KCBC.

The church's decision to break ties with the BJP is a significant development, as the two sides had previously enjoyed a close relationship. The BJP had courted the church in recent years, hoping to gain the support of its large Christian constituency in Kerala. However, the violence in Manipur has led the church to believe that the BJP is not a reliable partner for Christians. During his recent visit to Kerala, the Prime Minister held high level meetings with the Church Leaders in Kerala beside visiting a church on Easter Sunday. The BJP cadre were also visiting Christian shrines to gel with the Christian public and shed their Hindutva outlook.

The church's decision to break ties with the BJP is a major setback for the BJP's efforts to win over Christian voters in Kerala. The BJP is hoping to make inroads in Kerala, which is a state that has traditionally been ruled by the Congress Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). However, the church's decision will make it more difficult for the BJP to win over Christian voters in Kerala.

The church's decision to break ties with the BJP is also significant because it shows that the church is willing to stand up for the rights of Christians in India. The church has been critical of the BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda, and the violence in Manipur has only served to strengthen the church's resolve to defend the rights of Christians in India.

The church's decision to break ties with the BJP is a major development that will have far-reaching implications for the political landscape in India. It remains to be seen how the BJP will respond to the church's decision, but the violence in Manipur has had a significant impact on the relationship between the church and the BJP.

(Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/broken-heart-cardboard-on-brown-wooden-table-top-6670068/)