5 July, 2006
INDIA
Andhra Pradesh: Sisters of Mother Teresa forgive, bishop slams BJP politics by Nirmala Carvalho
The four nuns who were held up by an extremist mob for their alleged proselytising forgive their aggressors and do not press charges. The bishop of Hyderabad talks to AsiaNews about Hindu fundamentalists’ plan against Christians in Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad (AsiaNews) – Echoing the words of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Priscilla from the Mother House in Kolkata told AsiaNews that deeds accomplished with love are deeds that build peace. She was commenting the June 25 attack against four fellow sisters in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. On that occasion, Sisters Maria Julia, Chriselda, Emma Felesia and Reena Francis were held up inside a government hospital by a mob of more than 300 angry Hindus who accused them of proselytising.
The sisters of Mother Teresa, who had gone to the hospital to carry out their regular and duly authorised weekly visit, were arrested by the police. They were freed only late in the evening after the metropolitan archbishop of Hyderabad, Mgr Marampudi Joji, intervened on their behalf.
“The sisters,” the prelate told AsiaNews “have not pressed charges against anyone, but the police sent an agent to their House, who, in a threatening manner, tried to get them to sign a statement. The missionaries refused saying they were prepared to forgive those responsible for what happened.”
For Archbishop Joji, the attack was clearly politically motivated. He explained to AsiaNews that the mob was made up of members of India’s main Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi (a self-styled group for the defence of the Hindu religion).
“Hindu fundamentalism wants to raise fears among the people with respect to Christians,” he said. “For this reason, they accuse them of proselytising and working behind the scenes to distort the country’s nature. The reality is that elections are coming up and the BJP is trying its best to discredit the current Congress Party-dominated government”.
The attack against the nuns of Mother Teresa is not the only weapon used by Hindu fundamentalists. According to reliable sources, they are organising a demonstration in the capital on July 11 “to raise awareness in the population about the ‘Christian danger’ which is working in favour of proselytising with the tacit approval of the government”.
“After the demonstration, they are planning to ask the government to pass a law that would make the Hind temples in Tirupati and Tirumala independent,” the prelate said.
“All of a sudden,” he explained mockingly, “they found that some Christians work inside the temple and now accuse them of spying and working for the conversion of the whole state. The same thing is happening in two universities in Tirupati, where, if they are to be believed, Christians got jobs only in order to convert people”.
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