WARNINGS that the victory of Narendra Modi, the new Prime
Minister of India, is bad news for the country's Christians have
been challenged by the Bishop of Durgapur, in the Church of North
India, Dr Probal Kanto Dutta.
On Wednesday, Dr Dutta said that the landslide victory of Mr
Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had come as a "big
surprise". Christians in his diocese were expecting "positive
changes as promised by the Modi government".
He said: "Ten years ago, when BJP came to power, their manifesto
was 'Ram Temple' and 'Hindutva', but in 2014, their manifesto talks
about development, where they have taken up the successful model of
the state of Gujarat, where Modi was the Chief Minister."
"Ram Temple" refers to the BJP's proposal to construct a temple
at the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya, where a Muslim mosque was
destroyed in a riot in 1992. "Hindutva" is an ideology often taken
to mean that to be Indian is to be Hindu.
Dr Dutta suggested that the election result reflected India's
desire for "opportunities for the young people, reduction of
inflation, good governance, strengthening the fight against
corruption, and new hopes. All these things are yet to be
seen."
The results of the elections in India, the world's largest
democracy, were announced on Friday. The BJP secured 282 of the 543
elected seats of India's lower house. No party has managed to get a
simple majority since 1984. The outgoing Congress Party won only 44
seats, its worst ever performance.
Described by some as a hard-liner, Mr Modi first entered the
world of politics as a child, campaigning for Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation that has
been banned several times. He remains a member of it.
As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he has been credited with securing
economic prosperity for the state. His tenure has, however, been
overshadowed by the riots that took place in 2002, during which
more than 1000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed (News, 8 March
2002).
Although Mr Modi was cleared by the Supreme Court in 2012 of
complicity in the violence, he is still dogged by accusations that
he allowed or encouraged what has been described as a pogrom. In
2005, the United States government denied him a visa, under a law
that bars entry to foreigners who have committed "particularly
severe violations of religious freedom".
On Friday, the President of the National Congress of Indian
Christians, C. A. Daniel, told International Christian Concern, a
charity based in the US: "Today is a black day in the history of
India for Christian minorities. Christians are not safe under BJP
rule."
On Tuesday, the Revd David Haslam, convener of the Churches
Dalit Support Group, said that, at a recent meeting of the group, a
Dalit woman had said that victory for Mr Modi would spell
"disaster" for both Christians and Dalits (who are regarded as the
lowest caste in India).
Mr Haslam suggested that, despite the 2012 Supreme Court ruling,
Mr Modi "needs to do some really hard work convincing minorities in
India that he will genuinely protect them from the kind of violence
that occurred in Gujarat in 2002". The RSS was a "neo-fascist
organisation", he said.
"If you are a Hindu Dalit, you will probably be OK, but you will
be kept at the bottom of society because that is your place in the
caste system," Mr Haslam said. "If you are a Christian, Muslim,
Sikh or Buddhist Dalit, you might be quite fearful about what is
likely to happen. . . His [Mr Modi's] whole approach has been that
if you are not Hindu, you are not really Indian."
On Friday, after the election results were announced, Mr Modi
said: "The age of divisive politics has ended. From today onwards,
the politics of uniting people will begin."