The Catholic Bishops Conference of India on Wednesday listed a series of challenges facing churches in India, most of which had to do with the perception that the current government is not nearly secular enough. The CBCI said main problems are the narrow, culture-based interpretation of "nationalism", the lack of clarity on the government’s stand on intolerance amid growing fundamentalism, and the increasing saffronisation of education in the country.
The 32nd plenary that concluded in Bangalore on Wednesday presented a manifesto of issues on the theme — ‘Response of the Church in India to present day challenges’. It was attended by 178 Catholic bishops from 171 dioceses across the country, reported The Indian Express.
CBCI president Cardinal Baselios Cleemis said the organisation has decided to initiate a new way looking at India, from a faith point of view. “We do believe that this is a country with diverse realities and cultures and everybody has got an obligation to fulfil towards the nation. I should accept everyone, not just people who adhere to my views. That is not the way India remained for centuries,’’ he said.
At a separate event on the same day, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani also spoke critically of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over “attempts to transform the country into a Hindu Rashtra”. He said the present situation in the country is “worse than that at the time of Partition”. According to Madani, after Independence, this is the first time that those who are opposed to the government are branded "anti-nationals". The Jamiat will organise a National Solidarity Conference on March 12 in Delhi, which will be attended by Dalit leaders, religious representative and political leaders.
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