Jesus emphasized the importance of seeing things in perspective. That is what he meant when he asked us to mind the beam in our eyes. If you have a beam in your eye, what you can’t do is to see issues aright.
When the Jews conspired, led by the priests, to kill Jesus, they believed ardently that they were doing the right and just thing. After all, they had to do it to ‘save’ their religion from the Jesus-threat. What happened? The consequences are still being felt today, two millennia later. This is a permanent and historically significant warning to us to judge things objectively after taking all factors into account.
The context in which I am drawing attention to all this is the High Court verdict on Minority scholarships. I am disappointed to note the manner in which Christian leaders, mostly priests, have reacted to this development. Let me explain why.
Before that, recall what I said a year and half ago. I said then that the Orthodox Church in Kerala will be a loser for winning the legal battle against the Jacobite Church. The Jacobites are nobody to me. But what matters to me is that the Orthodox Church went about capitalising on its legal victory in the most un-Christian way. After all, it is not in defeat, but in victory that your mettle is proved. The verdict of a court is no excuse for throwing Christian principles to the dogs.
If it was the Orthodox Church that was put to the test, and found wanting in that instance, in the present case the Christian community as a whole is under the test. I am surprised that there is hardly any voice that seeks to alert the community to the direction this takes us, and what this could lead us into.
If we are worldly wise and spiritually foolish, we will certainly win a few scholarships, but will also certainly lose not only our Christian witness but also our Christian identity in the long run. I know this is a serious statement. So, I need to explain. Please have the patience to go through what I say below.
All of you will be aware that an orchestrated attempt has been afoot in Kerala in the recent years to undermine communal harmony and, in particular, to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims.
Crying wolf against love-jihad was one such strategy.
The resurrection of Tipu Sultan specifically as a persecutor of Christians by a popular Catholic priest – affectionately called kappipodi achen – is yet another.
A third is the whisper campaign that sexual harassment allegations against priests are a concoction of Muslims, who want to weaken the foundation of Christianity in Kerala.
The list can be longer.
Why is this happening in a state which has, for as far as our living memory goes, enjoyed communal peace and social harmony?
In whose interest is it to sow seeds of communal conflict and social alienation in our midst?
The answer to these questions lies in politics. Kerala is the one state in India in which Christian-Muslim harmony is a matter of extreme political significance. Communal forces cannot capture and colonize Kerala politically, unless communal amity is ruined and the communities are made to believe that one is an existential threat to the other. This has nothing to do with religion, or reality. It is a pure political demon brought in to support horrendous agendas.
In that context, let us come to the issue of government-sponsored scholarship. I have worked in the field of education for the whole of my career. So, I am confident about what I say here. The first thing to realize is that while the ‘right to establish and administer institutions of their choice’ [Article 30(1)] is a fundamental right, there is no fundamental right to receive scholarships. Neither Christians nor Muslims are entitled to educational scholarships. Of course, both communities are, under Article 14, protected against discrimination. So, as long as the government has a scholarship scheme in place, Christians have a legally valid grievance that they are being discriminated against. But Christians are Christians because they have the freedom to look beyond the law to the righteousness of God … as well as the duty to read the signs of the times.
The root of this problem – this discrimination – lies in UPA at the centre. It appointed the Justice Sachar Commission to study – note this! – not the backwardness of religious minorities in general but of the Muslim community. The Report is titled Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India (November, 2006)- A Report.
Why were other minorities left out of the mandate of the Commission? Because the Muslims matter in the all-India electoral calculus. Christians and other minorities don’t. Take the North Indian context: Christians there are as backward as Muslims, but numerically they don’t count….so they were left out of the purview of the Sachar Commission.
It was in light of this Report that the V. S. Achudanadan government enunciated the policy to institute “Minority Scholarships” in Kerala. It was implemented by the Oommen Chandy government that followed. Notice that, in its context, this step not unfair to the Christian community. There is no evidence that this scheme evoked any resentment from Christians at that time and for the many years that followed.
The question is: Why has it become a major issue today? Surely, this is not an innocent development. Its political roots are hidden as of now. But they won’t be hidden for long. It is my serious concern that unless the issue is recognized and addressed, Christians and Muslims will come to rue and lament their fatal foolishness in fighting over it. How can we not see that we are on the brink of extreme danger? By fighting among ourselves we shall only aid and abet the forces that are, by their nature, hostile and malignant towards us. Simple common sense demands that we see this issue, as also all others in the foreseeable future, in light of the agenda to turn India into Hindutva Rashtra. According to the Sangh Parivar deep-rooted conviction, Christians and Muslims are not eligible to be citizens of India, because they are religious foreigners (as the Parivar says, “Their holy lands are outside of India”). Surely, we cannot afford to be so foolish as to fail to see that survival as citizens is far greater issue than a few scholarships.
Most regrettably, a climate of antagonism is being created by vested interests within the Christian and Muslim communities, who are happy to be the pimps of communal forces. The tragic thing is that the activities of these vested interests are succeeding in making communal polarisation more prevalent. If we continue to walk into this trap, we shall corrupt our witness as the followers of Jesus Christ, who has taught us to love even enemies. The scholarship issue, if fought over, will further intensify the alienation between the two communities.
It is my ardent plea to all concerned that this should not be allowed to happen. Our leaders, who want tokens to show off, are unlikely to heed this plea, unless enough pressure is generated by the laity, who will suffer most if communal conflagration spreads in Kerala and if the political future of the state is hijacked.
What will make the open tussle between Christians and Muslims all the more repugnant is that both communities in Kerala are as well off as the Hindu community. So, there is no justification for their enjoying any special privileges. As a rule, privileges alienate. That hidden alienation erupts when the parties concerned are seen to quarrel with each other uncharitably.
We should be able to take care of the poor in our midst. Because it is not money that we lack. It is a heart for the poor. That is why we keep all our wealth to build up churches and institutions to show off in every imaginable way.
For example, the Church of South India’s Madhya Kerala Diocese alone spent Rs. 25 crores to celebrate the 200 th anniversary of the CMS in Kerala. By itself, that amount would have sufficed to support all poor Christian students in the whole of Kerala.
To make up for such moral folly, those concerned posture as the protectors of the welfare of the poor in the community by fighting the State on their behalf. This is dishonest; and, in the present context, dangerous.
I hope better sense prevails. And that, before it is too late.
