In a few days, it will be Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace who showed the people how to love one and another. His legacy is preached by word and action throughout Christendom. His message is universal and not just for His Christian faithful. In today’s India, Jesus’s message is more important and should be followed sternly and vigorously.
The nation is passing through turbulent times. There’s a sharp rise in fascism and religious intolerance. Minorities belonging to religious denominations other than that of Hinduism have been mercilessly targeted for not just their religious beliefs but for minor human errors. Sadly, the trend has also spread to Goa, once a symbol of inter-religious harmony. The desecration of the Holy Cross was highly disturbing in a land known for its peaceful environment where communities lived together in peace and accorded respect to each other.
No doubt the BJP has occupied the seat of Central government before, but the current set of government leaders are of a different mindset. On the drum beats of Hinduvta, the BJP came to power and it has not curtailed the fundamentalist elements in the Hinduvta umbrella from spreading hatred and communal poison. India is a pluralistic nation with many religions and divisions within those religions. Communal flare-ups have taken place in the past, but now the communal tension is running high. There are daily instances of someone getting lynched or someone getting killed for hurting religious sentiments of the dominating community.
Fundamentalism prevails in the world’s biggest religions. This is a worrisome problem for which the answer should lie within those who think they are doing justice to their religious affiliations. Since the BJP came to power in 2014, the religious Right has shown its might in political, social and cultural fields. There’s a pushback by the secular Left, and this has resulted in confrontation that harms the national conscience.
India has a rich Christian heritage. There are many books pertaining to the fact that Christianity was stamped in India very early in the history of Christianity, but I suggest that Goans read A History of Christianity in India by George Mark Moraes, the doyen of Goan historians and, for a short period of his life, was in charge of the post-graduate centre in Goa before the establishment of Goa University.
A recent issue of National Geographic says, “Church tradition claims that the Apostle Thomas carried the Gospel to India, though scholars believe it was actually the work of Syriac missionaries who revered Thomas as their patron saint. When church theologian Pantaebus of Alexandria traveled to India around 180 AD, he found many flourishing Christian communities.”As for what is Syriac, it was the local language of the people of Alexandria in the second century.
Thomas was martyred in India, and there stands a cathedral in Mylapore, in present-day Chennai, where he was buried. It’s a place of pilgrimage not just for Christians but for people of all faiths. Just as another place of pilgrimage in Chennai is Velankanni where people from all religious creeds throng to seek special favours, just as people from all walks of life come to Bom Jesus Basilica in Old Goa to pay their reverence to St Francis Xavier.
The 1964 International Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai was a milestone in the Catholic history of India, as it brought Pope Paul VI to India. Subsequently, two more visits by Pope Paul II affirmed the India-Vatican relations. It was good gesture by the PM AB Vajpayee to pay a visit to the Pope in Rome, and the going of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj for the canonisation of Mother Teresa in 2016 was significant.
It’s another matter that Mother Teresa has been reviled by the virulent forces in the RSS and VHP. Her “sin” helping the “poorest of the poor.” Her order still does wonderful work for the downtrodden that form the biggest percentage of the population. While alive and active, she embodied the message of Jesus’s saying, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:27). The Mother said, “….Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” In these trying times, India needs to heed her message.
Pray that India awakes to a new realisation that all its people are one. Let the political leaders share a new vision of faith and politics in which they practise “prophetic politics” as a way forward. An end must be put to vicious insinuations and hatred on religious grounds, and seek a common ground. Vote for political leaders with good moral values. Remember Edmund Burke’s words, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” For George Bush, the US ex-president who died recently, Jesus was his “favourite philosopher.” Jesus taught philosophy of love and forgiving, which is presently absent in India.
Unity lies not in building tall statues and big mandirs but in building strong and loving communal ties. Jesus came to earth to save mankind, and it’s for Indians to save India.
(Eugene Correia is a senior journalist who worked for The Hindu and The Free Press Journal)
