Protests mount against Hindu nationalist ‘intolerance’

Dozens of Christian leaders have joined the chorus of protest against the growing “intolerance” by Hindu nationalists under the BJP Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, writes Anto Akkara.

“We denounce … ultimately the [sinister] attempt to undermine the Constitution of India,” more than 100 Christian leaders including Catholic bishops and social activists say in a statement released on 2 November.

“We denounce the planned move to utilise religion for politico-economic benefits; we denounce the well-orchestrated efforts to use government machinery to achieve evil ends; we denounce all the efforts to divide the nation,” the statement continues.

The unprecedented statement comes as eminent writers, artists and scientists have begun to return national awards to the Government in protest over the growing climate of intolerance and government silence.

Meanwhile, Raghuram Rajan, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, told a convocation of engineering students at the Indian Institute of Technology on 31 October that tolerance is essential to India’s economic growth if foreign investors are not to be discouraged.

“Hatred is nurtured in a planned manner to destroy the identity of indigenous groups and freedom of expression is mocked,” lamented Archbishop Antony Pappusamy of Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu.

Kannada poet Professor Chandrashekhar Patil and Hindi writer Uday Prakash returned their literary awards in September in protest against the killing of Kannada writer Professor M M Kalburgi in late August.