'How can you forget what Christians do for nation building?'

'Even if they try to silence us, even if they kill so many of us, we won't give up.'
'We won't give up doing the good work we are doing for society.'
'Because we love this country.'

"Do they think through a hate campaign, they can belittle the good deeds we do and silence us?", Father Jacob G Palackappilly, deputy secretary general, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

When the prime minister came to Kerala, several church leaders met him. It is said he was trying to win over the Christian community with the 2024 elections in mind.

He is the prime minister of India, and anybody can see him when he visits Kerala.

Even religious leaders also have the right to meet the prime minister of the country. It is not necessary to give any political colour to it.

From the church's side, there was no politics in the meeting. Church leaders have been meeting leaders from all political parties.

When Rahul Gandhi came, I was also invited to meet him, and I met him.

Similarly, when the prime minister showed an interest to meet our religious leaders, why should we not meet him? He is the prime minister of India, after all.

You mean, it should not be seen as vote bank politics?

No, you should not look at it from a political angle.

We, the Christian religious leaders do not have any affinity or enmity to any political party. We try to keep equal distance from every political party.

We meet political leaders because our contribution to nation-building is immense, whether it is in healthcare or education or geriatric care.

With this work comes many challenges and we can only discuss these challenges with the responsible leaders.

People of Kerala are enlightened, and they will not see any political colour when church leaders meet political leaders.

A Christian religious leader from Kerala compared what was happening against the minority Christian community in Manipur to the genocide against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002...

The prime minister says India is the mother of all democracies. But what exactly is happening here? Is it democracy, autocracy or fascism? We are worried about India moving towards fascism.

India is India because of its pluralism, and anything that destroys the pluralistic nature of the country should be questioned.

It is the duty of the media to do so, but the Indian media also has become subservient to these forces.

What is happening all over the country is a hate campaign.

It happened in Gujarat. It happened in Kandhamal in Odisha.

He (the Christian religious leader from Kerala) must not have mentioned Kandhamal in the statement, but remember the entire village was burnt down and people from the village had to take shelter in the forest. A young nun was raped in public and she was paraded naked.

What happened in Kandhamal was a hate campaign. What happened in Gujarat was a hate campaign. What is happening in Manipur is a hate campaign.

What is happening in Karnataka also is a hate campaign. In Delhi also, churches were attacked.

We are asking only one thing. In this huge country, the Christian community is a minority among the minorities. At just 2.3%, our presence is very small.

Because we love our country, we work hard to build educational institutions, primary healthcare centres and homes for the most marginalised in society.

IMAGE: Father Jacob G Palackappilly

Are we not taking care of the abandoned old people, orphaned children, physically and mentally challenged and terminally ill? We are not taking any money from anyone to take care of them.

Our contribution has been immense to make this country a welfare State. How can you forget what we do for nation building?

Are they angry with us because we try to bring up the lives of the downtrodden in society like the Adivasis, the lowest in the caste hierarchy and the marginalised? Do they hate us because we try to bring them to the mainstream?

Do they want the hierarchical caste system to continue so that the marginalised would always live like slaves and remain marginalised?

Those who are involved in the hate campaign against us are those who want the chaturvarna caste system to continue in India.

Why is it that Dalit Christians are not included in the scheduled list? Are they afraid that all Dalits would then embrace Christianity?

Do they think through a hate campaign, they can belittle the good deeds we do and silence us?

Let me say, even if they continue with the hate campaign, even if they try to silence us, even if they kill so many of us, we won't give up.

We won't give up doing the good work we are doing for society. Because we love this country, we will be the voice of the voiceless by working for them tirelessly and with lots of love....

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com