SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Eugene Correia
At Easter, Christians celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead and ascending to be with his heavenly father. Unknown to all humanity since times of the dawn of history, the Father is just simply known as God the Father. It is in his death and resurrection that Christians look upon Jesus as the Redeemer. He is has been given different attributes, from Founder of Christianity to Prince of Peace.
The reverence of Jesus has a long history. From the time of one of his Apostles, Thomas, coming to the southern part of the country and being martyred in the modern-day Mylapore. Call it a myth or legend, as specially held by devout Hindus, St Thomas’s remains a devout figure in the history of Christian India. One can go back in history and find many loopholes if one seeks to look for them. Confusion abounds, but it cannot shake off the faith of those who believe in the saint’s odysey to a land thousand of miles away to the land of Lord Ram.
In a 1990 book, Christ as Common Ground: A Study of Christianity and Hinduism, Kathleen Healy, in her preface, written at Easter, 1989, reveals she did “six years of study of the relationship of Christianity and Hinduism in India”. As the title itself explains, the author feels that a “spiritual union of East and /west is crucial in our world.” The urgency of such union if of utmost important in the current social landscape of India. The communal conflagration taking place across the land calls for a sympathetic as well as secular understanding of the cultural forces at play.
The political rise of the Hindu Right is alarming. Whereas in the past the communal discord was simmering at the surface, it has boiled over ever since the BJP has seized the power at the centre in 2014. That a former RSS man holds the top spot in the government has given license to the large followers of hardline Hinduism. In the present-day India, even Mahatma Gandhi, who symbolizes peace and racial harmony, is not spared. Little or no significance is given to Gandhi’s avowed love for the Sermon on the Mount.
There is some truth in saying that many Hindus respect Christ but have problems with Christianity. The recent harassment of nuns in a train shows the anger of the Hindus who cannot see eye-to-eye with those professing the faith of Christ. Healy had hoped for a both communities to find a common ground, but the attacks on Christians, not forgetting the Muslims, seem to show that the ground is slowly but surely slipping away. Two terms of the BJP rule has given a signal that there is all likelihood of the gap widening up.
In the political war of ideology, the Congress and some of the opposition parties are diametrically on the other side of the ruling BJP. The Congress, just to mention one main party, is seen as “secular” in its outlook and performance. Hence, Gandhi, though not a ardent Congressman, is lambasted for his philosophy and political viewpoints, as much as Jawaharlal Nehru and his dynastic legacy is lampooned for what India had become. Ignoring or deliberating masquerading the facts as having detrimental effects on the political nature of the country is a ruse that the BJP employs very selectively. Historical data that shows Nehru as the Maker of Modern India is flatly denied. On the reverse, Modi is proclaimed as the man who is in the process of bringing in a New India.
From the book, The Mahatma and the Missionary, by Cliford Manshardt, Healy quotes: “Christ comes to India not from Europe, but directly from the Father.” It’s a fact that many Hindus have great reverence for Christ, but they have remained true to their faith. While missionaries have managed to convert many Hindus, and more so, the downtrodden lot of India, in particular the tribals, they are maligned and even brutally attacked for their work in spreading the message of Jesus Christ. It’s been a long and tortured history, and it’s unlikely to end as long as the present communal discord remains. By and large, Goa can be a beacon to the nation if it seeks a new vision for a new India in its true sense.
