There is a famous saying that it is catastrophic to mix Religion with Politics, and it can destroy any society or country. If we talk about India, here religion has always been a big factor in politics. While almost every political discourse in our country has been dominated by Hindu-Muslim issues or pseudo-secularism, there is another religious organization that has been doing its work quietly for so many decades, and now has reached a situation where it can influence the future of India.
Here we are talking about the Church, which has become a very powerful body in India. The image of the Church had always been that of an institution protecting morality and chastity, but now the Church has shied away from its responsibility towards the poor and the wider society by engaging in political processes and anti-national activities.
Do you know, what is the relation between Vizhinjam port, Kudankulam nuclear plant, Sterlite copper plant, and Bangalore Metro project?
Well, all these are important institutions or projects of our country, and all these are strongly opposed by the Church. The church has launched agitations against all these projects, has misled the people, and has made every effort to stop them. You might not believe it, but we will give out some references that will help you to understand this context.
Vizhinjam Port is an international deep-water multipurpose port project of the Government of Kerala. This has been fiercely opposed by the Latin Archdiocese Church of Thiruvananthapuram, which is instigating the people of the nearby villages and the fishermen, forcing them to oppose the project.
Under the auspices of the church, people here hoist black flags and raised slogans against the project. The Government of Kerala has already agreed to five out of the seven demands of the protesters and is also ready to discuss the other two demands. But the church is still using the fishermen and the people of the villages to make this protest violent.
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant: This has been a highly controversial nuclear plant since its inception. The plant was a huge step toward meeting India’s energy needs, and perhaps one of the reasons why foreign NGOs and churches strongly opposed it. You will be surprised to know that most of the people who participated in the rally organized in Nagercoil came from different Catholic parishes. The St. Lourdes Church complex at Idinthakarai was converted into a protest site for the plant.
Numerous Churches had urged people to join the protests against the Kudankulam plant. Kudankulam is the largest nuclear power plant in India, with 2,000 MW installed at present. Once completed, the plant will have a capacity of 6,000 MW. But due to these protests, the construction of this plant was delayed for many years and many people were killed, and many others were also injured during protests.
Sterlite Copper Plant: This was the largest copper plant in India, which met the industrial needs of copper in the country, while also enabling India to export copper in abundance. But all of a sudden a fierce protest was started to close this plant. Several falsehoods were spread about this plant that it was causing many adverse effects on the environment, it is impacting the workers, etc. Various churches joined hands and accelerated the protests by declaring Sunday as Protest Day.
Members of the Catholic Fernandez community living in a settlement off the coast of Tuticorin marched from Our Lady of Snows’ church to the collector’s office, in which Pastor Lazarus played a leading role. After that, the church and foreign NGOs put pressure on the government and the judiciary, which led to the closure of the plant.
India, which used to be a net exporter of copper, has now become dependent on imports to meet its copper requirements, due to which we have to bear the loss of foreign exchange of several hundred crores every year.
Bangalore Metro – This is a very interesting case. The city of Bengaluru is witnessing unprecedented growth at the moment, due to which a metro train has become a necessity. One such project has already started, but at the same time, it is facing opposition. It is said that some of the defense lands were bought from the Church of South India (CSI) by paying Rs 60 crore.
Now the ‘All Saints Church’ is opposing the construction of the metro and demanding to save the trees. It is important to know here that the CSI is the parent body of the All Saints Church. This means that one organization has taken money by selling the land, while the church of the same organization is opposing this project, inciting the local people against it.
The church is misusing its Soft Power to fan anti-Indian sentiments
According to the 2011 census, Christians constitute only 2.3% of India’s population. On the other hand, if we talk about the church, it owns or controls about 20,000 educational institutions. It is the second largest institution after the central government which has such a huge amount of assets. The church owns thousands of vocational training centers and about 5,000 health care centers.
However, now Church institutions have started to interfere extensively in politics and important infrastructure projects. Churches in India also get adequate support from the Vatican, which makes them infinitely powerful. Church has started misusing this power against India and directly challenging India’s sovereignty by supporting violent demonstrations against national projects and power plants, and by seeking help from foreign institutions.
Our society and government will have to understand these malicious intentions of the Church and will also have to oppose them vehemently. We cannot allow any religious and non-governmental body to play with the sovereignty of the country. Before this problem escalates, we must control the Church, otherwise, it will have dire consequences in the future.
