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Orthodox bishop hits out at PM Modi over Christmas event

By, Kochi
Dec 25, 2024 07:50 AM IST

We didn’t invite a BJP leader to the event, invited the Prime Minister of India, says CBCI president Mar Andrews Thazhath

A senior bishop of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a social media post on Tuesday, ahead of Christmas, sparking a controversy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, on the CBCI Centre premises in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, on the CBCI Centre premises in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI)

Yuhanon Meletius, the Metropolitan bishop of the Thrissur diocese of the Church, wrote in Malayalam on Facebook, “There, bishops are revered and cribs are bowed to. Here, cribs are destroyed. Isn’t there a phrase in Malayalam for such an action?”

The bishop was referring to the Christmas event hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) in Delhi on Monday, where the PM was the chief guest. Simultaneously, he pointed out the two separate incidents that took place at Palakkad district in Kerala, in which suspected Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) supporters allegedly attempted to disrupt Christmas celebrations at a government school on December 20, and a crib was found to be vandalised at another school on Monday.

The Christian leader’s remarks came at a time when the BJP is conducting an outreach programme with a focus on the Christian community in Kerala and elsewhere. Under the programme, BJP leaders and workers are heading to Christian homes across the state to convey Christmas greetings of the PM as part of its attempts to get closer to the community, which accounts for 18% of the state’s population.

The incident involving VHP leaders took place at the Government Upper Primary School in Nallepilly where they allegedly questioned the teachers and other staff about the reasons for celebrating Christmas and ignoring Hindu festivals. In the second incident, the crib, set up as part of Christmas celebrations at a government school in Thathamangalam, was allegedly vandalised.

Three VHP leaders have been arrested for the first incident and sent to judicial remand.

The Orthodox bishop later told reporters on Tuesday, “I see the Delhi event (of the CBCI) as a drama. In Malayalam, there’s a saying ‘cutting the neck while blowing from mouth’. That’s the fashion I see.” He meant that the BJP and the PM were indulging in contrasting actions at the same time.

After the remarks, Mar Andrews Thazhath, president of the CBCI, told reporters, “We didn’t invite a BJP leader to the event. We invited the Prime Minister of India. We thanked him for attending the event. At the same time, we appealed to him to take the country forward by following the basic tenets of the Constitution and including people of all faiths such as Christians and Muslims in the process.”

Congress MP KC Venugopal hit out at PM Modi saying, “Are people in Manipur able to celebrate Christmas? Did the PM utter a single word about it? Instead he spoke about the incident in Germany (where there was an attack on a Christmas market).”

BJP state president K Surendran condemned the incident of Christmas celebration disruption at the school in Palakkad and suspected a conspiracy behind it.

“Members of the VHP or other Sangh Parivar outfits are not responsible for it. I condemn it in the strongest terms. It cannot be encouraged. There must be strong action. I suspect a conspiracy behind it. For the past few years, the BJP has been interacting with the Christian community in a loving and harmonious way. There are some people who don’t like it. Some people who have left the BJP may have been involved. I demand a fair and transparent probe,” he said.

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