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Not a Good Friday
The argument by the Chief Justice of India H L Dattu that the Chief Justices’ Conference was held on Good Friday to save precious working days and meant no disrespect to the sentiments of India’s Christian minority has not gone down well among the Christians who have been facing violence from the forces of Hindutva. All across the country, churches have been attacked and vandalised, nuns raped, priests beaten up and threatened, and prayer meetings disrupted.
The argument by the Chief Justice of India H L Dattu that the Chief Justices’ Conference was held on Good Friday to save precious working days and meant no disrespect to the sentiments of India’s Christian minority has not gone down well among the Christians who have been facing violence from the forces of Hindutva. All across the country, churches have been attacked and vandalised, nuns raped, priests beaten up and threatened, and prayer meetings disrupted. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the fountainhead of right-wing Hindu nationalism and the ideologue of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has started an aggressive programme of converting Christians to Hinduism. In defiance of law, the RSS and its affiliates are offering both money and other benefits like eligibility to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation quota to Christians and Muslims who reconvert to Hinduism.
It is obvious to any observer that the Christians in India today are a threatened and a frightened lot. Yet, when a brother judge and practising Christian, Kurian Joseph, requested the chief justice to not hold the meeting on Good Friday, he was told to rise above “individual interest” in the interest of the institution. Justice Joseph has expressed his deep sense of hurt at this response. Justice Vikramjit Sen who also had requested Justice Dattu not to hold the official function on Good Friday apparently received a similar response.
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