This Christmas Day, Christians in the country will, as they have done in the past, pray for, among other things, the country. A statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference on India (CBCI) prays that the Lord keep the country safe and make it a model of love, peace and harmony. This prayer is especially relevant this Christmas season, given the apprehensions voiced by a senior Catholic religious figure who spoke plainly and openly on the prevailing situation in the country.
Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of the CBCI, had a few days earlier in an interview to a National daily said that the country is being polarised by religious affiliations and that Christians are losing confidence in the government. These are strong words coming from the head of the apex body of the Catholic clergy in the country, who met the Union Home Minister expressing the community’s anguish and seeking justice. Speaking further, the Cardinal said that he wants the country to be united in a secular fabric and that ‘religious polarisation’ in India should be fought.
What prompted the observations by the CBCI, was the attack on carol singers at Satna in Madhya Pradesh and the move to file cases against the priests. But that has not been the only issue in recent days to have led to the remarks from the bishops’ conference head. Schools in some States have been told not to celebrate Christmas and if they do so then do it at their own risk. The incidents coming close to Christmas led to the response from the CBCI.
The CBCI statement, released a day before Christmas eve, goes further to state that the community will pray that God grant political leaders the wisdom to preserve ‘our Motherland free from hatred and strife and the strength and the courage to lead it to freedom from fear, poverty, corruption and animosity’. It doesn’t stop there and also calls for prayers that spiritual leaders of all faiths be channels of love, peace and concern for the people.
Love and peace is what Christmas is all about, and if Christians do not pray for this and profess to follow it in their lives, their lives would have little meaning. It is therefore, imperative for them to too reach out to the other communities. It wouldn’t be a Merry Christmas if this didn’t happen.
Over the past months there have been incidents of polarisation and intolerance – the killings of rationalists being one example and the attacks on consumers of beef another – that have been condemned by civil society, and have threatened to tear at the secular fabric in the nation. The government may need to step in and assuage the feelings of the community that, as the Cardinal said, is losing confidence in it. Regaining confidence in the government is important and this can happen if communities come together with open minds.
An example of how communities can work together was visible in Portugal last week when the Hindu community there offered the city of Lisbon a mural that celebrates the world religions. The mural that symbolises the different religions present in Portugal, has been created in the Mahatma Gandhi Park, and was unveiled by the city’s mayor.
Confidence building measures are important, and, as pointed out, by Cleemis it is the subsequent action and legal protection of the government that matters. Not just Christians, but the government must ensure that all minorities in the country feel safe and not threatened in any way.
