Sangh Parivar

Mgr Raphael Cheenath, archbishop of
Cuttack-Bubaneshwar, talks about the situation of the Church following
attacks against churches, cars and people in Orissa. There is a link
between Hindu nationalist ideology and Nazism. For him though,
Christianity has “deep roots” in the state and the Church is the
“light” for many Tribals and outcasts.

Bubaneshwar
(AsiaNews) – Hindu nationalism, which is fomenting attacks against
Christians, is like a cancer that is undermining inter-communal
coexistence, which is the foundation of Indian society. The roots of
this nationalism, expressed especially through the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteers' Organisation, are in
Hitler’s Nazism.

For the archbishop of Cuttack-Bubaneshwar,
whose priests have had to flee mobs of fanatics roaming around looking
for Christians, the Cross has set deep roots in Orissa. “The Church,”
he said, “will be the light for generations to come in Orissa.”

Mgr Raphael Cheenath, Verbite, archbishop of Cuttack-Bubaneshwar (Orissa), described to AsiaNews
the situation of the faithful under his care after two days of attacks
by radical Hindus against churches, social and pastoral centres,
parishes and convents.

“Father Thomas, director of our pastoral centre, is
hiding in the forest,” the archbishop said. “From there, tears in his
eyes and sorrow in his heart, he saw it go up in smoke. Just before the
attack he phoned me and I told him: ‘Pray and be vigilant.’ But when he
saw mobs of people coming towards the centre he had to flee for his
life. The pastoral centre had cost more than 15 million rupees.”

The new wave of destructions comes in the wake of the
assassination of radical Hindu leader Swami Laxanananda last Saturday
(23 August), which was blamed on Christians.

“We Christians refuse violence. We condemn every act
of violence and terrorism. But we are also against taking the law into
our own hands,” said the bishop.

“As soon as we heard about Swami Laxamananda
Saraswati’s assassination I issued a public statement strongly
condemning the dastardly attack and murders. I called on everyone to
remain peaceful and in harmony. We want relations of friendship with
all communities.”

News of more violence are still coming in from around
the diocese—a chapel torched in Sundergarh, a van owned by nuns burnt
in G. Udayagir, etc.

“We feel totally abandoned. This morning the
authorities sent three policemen to watch over the nuns’ convent and
the bishop’s residence. But they don’t even have a stick to protect us
from the fury of the mob!”

For Monsignor Cheenath anti-Christian (and
anti-Muslim) violence is rooted in the ideology that developed around
the RSS (which inspires other fanatical groups linked to the opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party).

“Golwalkar, a founding member of the RSS, in a book
that he wrote borrowed ideas from Hitler’s Nazism. His admiration for
Hitler was well-known. He rejected the idea that India was a secular
nation, and posited instead that it was a Hindu Rashtra (a Hindu
system), which a great of influence over much of the Indian
population.” But in a Hindu Rashtra there is no place for other
religions.

“In Orissa we are victimised because of the Cross,”
Monsignor Cheenath explained. “More than 94 per cent of the population
is Hindu. Christianity is practiced by only 2.4 per cent of the
population. There have been some conversions though among Tribals, who
have often been abused by the people of the cities.”

“Here the majority would like to eliminate the Cross,
but its roots are too deep and the cancer of nationalism will not
prevail. The Church will be the light for many generations to come.”

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