The Good Friday turned out to be a day of real sufferings for the BJP in Kerala which is on an all out mission to win at least one Lok Sabha seat from the State.
The spiritual leaders of the Christian community with which the Hindutva party is struggling to establish a positive vibe exhorted the faithful to be on the alert as the community members were not safe under the BJP rule since 2014.
Archbishop Thomas J Netto, the undisputed leader of the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, who commands massive loyalty of the followers led the Way of the Cross rally in the morning and delivered a blunt message to the laity in which he reminded them again and again not to forget the attacks on Christian community in Manipur and the rest of the country from “powers of darkness”. Netto delivered his speech in the Cathedral Church in the capital city where thousands had gathered to listen to his sermon.
Interestingly, the Congress candidate Sasi Tharoor and the CPI candidate Panniyan Raveendran along with party cadres took part in the Way of the Cross rally and sat in rapt attention listening to the pontification of Netto. But the BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar nor his cadres were visible anywhere during the parade or while the sermonizing by Netto. Thiruvananthapuram Lok sabha constituency has a considerable population of Latin Catholic voters as the entire fishing belt along the coastal area is known as Portuguese colony.
“Christians in Manipur and elsewhere in North India are facing brutal assault from the powers of darkness. There has been no effective intervention on the part of the authorities. It is high time we adopted a stand against the forces of evil. We should make use of the opportunity to express our opinion,” declared Netto.
Netto also came down heavily on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, referring to it as an attempt to cultivate a narrow religion-based approach. “All Christian churches should stand united to acquire the strength for survival. Standing united is essential to protect the rights of religious minorities enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.
Mar Thomas Tharayil, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Changanassery, said in his message that minorities should be able to live in the country without fear. “If the weakest person in the country is living under fear, that should be seen as the failure of that entire nation,” he said.
Both Netto and Tharayil are known baiters of Sanatana Dharma but command big influence over the Christian community. But Kevin Peter, founder, Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA) told The Pioneer that it was strange the spiritual leaders were silent over the physical assaults on the Christian community members by Jihadi extremist elements . “The priests remain mute about the attacks on the parish priest at Poonjar while they are critical of what was happening in Manipur. This is hypocrisy,” said Kevin.
He said the 2024 Good Friday turned out to be similar to that of the 1979 all India protest staged by the Christian community against the Freedom of Religion Bill introduced in Parliament to declare as illegal all religious conversions by force and persuasion.
