The prelate pledged to help the pro-Hindu party to win a seat in Kerala if rubber prices are hiked
Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry (Photo supplied)
A Catholic archbishop based in southern Kerala state has courted controversy after he publicly promised to support the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming parliamentary polls if it hikes the prices of rubber benefiting Catholic farmers.
Syro-Malabar Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry made the promise when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which is aiming for a third consecutive term, is keen on wooing the Christian community in the southern state.
The prelate’s call at a meeting of rubber plantation farmers, a core community of the Kerala-based Eastern Indian Church, on March 18 has irked many Christian leaders who now want him to clarify his stand.
“It is pathetic,” reacted Father Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit rights activist based in the western state of Gujarat, which has been ruled by the BJP for nearly three decades and is among the states that have enacted a sweeping anti-conversion law.
“First of all, bishops and priests should refrain from gathering votes for any political party,” Father Prakash told UCA News on March 20.
He said pro-Hindu groups associated with the BJP continue to attack Christians and Muslims, undermining the secular fabric of the constitution. Still, if the prelate wants people to vote for the BJP “he should clarify in a written statement,” the Jesuit said.
Pamplany’s support for BJP in the general elections “is fraught with many socio-political ramifications,” said Father Babu Joseph, former spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
Although his comments may send the right signal to the distressed rubber growers of Kerala, “it may not go down well with all sections of the community,” the Divine Word priest told UCA News on March 20.
Chacko Kalamparambil, a leader of the Catholic Congress, affiliated with the main opposition party, however, defended the prelate, saying that “farmers in the state are facing an invincible poverty” and Pamplany was highlighting their woes.
Addressing the farmers’ meeting in the northern district of Kannur in Kerala, Pamplany urged the Modi-led federal government to fix Rs. 300 (US$3.6) as the basic support price for natural rubber per kilogram. It will help farmers support BJP, which currently has no lawmakers from Kerala.
Currently, rubber farmers are getting 120 to 150 rupees for a kilogram of rubber, after incurring a production cost of 250 rupees, farmers said.
More than 1.5 million people are reported to be rubber plantation farmers in Kerala and the majority of them belong to the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the 22 Eastern rites in the Catholic fold.
Kerala sends 20 lawmakers to India’s Lok Sabha or the lower house of Parliament. Though BJP has been at the helm in New Delhi since 2014, it failed to win a seat in Kerala.
To win a seat in Kerala, Modi’s party needs the support of either Christians or Muslims.
Muslims make up 26 percent while Christians 18 percent of the southern state’s 33 million population.
The BJP leaders reportedly have kick-started talks with Christian leaders in Kerala to woo the community ahead of the general elections in 2024.
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