Catholics across India have reacted angrily to an archbishop in Kerala who has offered conditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that heads the country’s federal coalition government.
Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry on March 18 assured the BJP at least one seat from the southern Indian state if the federal government raises the price of rubber to 300 rupees.
The Syro-Malabar prelate was addressing a farmers’ rally at Alakode, a village in the eastern region of Kerala’s Kannur district where rubber is the main crop.
The Hindu nationalist BJP currently has no parliamentary or legislative seat in Kerala, where Christians form more than 18 percent of 35.77 million.
Archbishop Pamplany’s statement “cannot be accepted as the stand of Christians in Kerala, though there have been attempts by Christian leaders to align with the BJP,” said Father Suresh Mathew, editor of Indian Currents weekly.
Referring to the prelate’s assurance, John Dayal of the 104-year-old All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest laity organization in the country, asked: “Are the Catholic votes in Kerala available to the highest bidder?”
AICU’s March 19 statement asserts that voting should not be based on short term benefits, but on what is beneficial to the nation.
“The archbishop’s statement, which surely does not have the support even of the other bishops in the state of Kerala, is similar to taking money for votes,” said Dayal, the AICU spokesperson.
A C Michael, president of the Catholic federations of the Delhi archdiocese, said the archbishop has a choice to resign as a priest and join a political party if he is interested in politics.
“Everyone in our democracy has a right to choose someone as his legislative or parliamentary representative. The same is applicable to Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry. But the moment he is imposing his thinking on others he has crossed the line of democracy,” Michael told Matters India.
The Indian Catholic Forum (ICF), another laity group, said it is “aghast and astounded” at the archbishop’s purported statement.
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