A week ago,
an event that took place in New Delhi has caused ripples within certain
sections of the population in Patna. A rally at Jantar Mantar coincided with
the release of a report that detailed some 600 cases of violence and hate-based
anti-social activities against minority communities across India since May 18
this year. This rally, largely ignored by the print and electronic media, is an important conversation piece among the more aware sections of the Christian populace.
Visiting the Bihar capital this week was Sunil
Lucas, the National President of SIGNIS, the social communications wing of the
Catholic Church, who mirrored the anxiety being felt by Christians when news
about attacks on priests or pastors are
becoming commonplace. “It’s natural that a sense of insecurity will creep in
unless the Prime Minister deals firmly with all those who are spreading
misconceptions and hate, vitiating the unity and harmony of the country,” he
said.
Patna will
be the venue for the National Assembly of the Social Communications wing of the
Catholic Church, where some 120 representatives of Christian and secular
communications organizations and professionals will meet around the theme
‘Cultural Diversity’, to emphasis we India’s multi-lingual, multi-faith, and
multi- cultural identity.
“Christians
are a small minority in Bihar, but our commitment and contribution to the state
in several fields, mainly education and health is significant. We stand for a
united India. As Christian audio-visual communicators, it is our duty to show unity,
brotherhood and peace between all communities in our productions, be they films
or videos,” says local video film maker Victor Francis, who has directed one of
Patna Doordarshan’s earliest Bhojpuri serials.
“Ahimsa is
what Jesus taught, and so it is natural that our priests advocate non-violence
and faith in the rule of law, but some vested interests now take our peaceful
attitude as a weakness, and Christians become soft targets. Beat up the
Christians in a church and they will not react, break up their church and they
will forgive you, even burn their church leaders alive and instead of crying
for revenge and instigating a riot, the widows will say, “I forgive them in the
name of Jesus”. The point is that there comes a breaking point,” says Rajesh
Tirkey, a Tribal Catholic youth from Bodh
Gaya, who was one of the several youngsters who actively supported Narendra
Modi during the Lok Sabha election campaign. “Several of us voted for change,
believing that India needed a strong leader. We didn’t think of caste,
religion, or class. We pray that this trust is not broken.”
The meaning
of secularism needs to be debated across all forums, says Sylvester, a second
year student at St. Xavier's College. A secular government should not lean towards any faith-based
organization be it Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jain, or Buddhist. In the
meanwhile, the community leaders are closely watching the shape the discourse
takes as the political climate shifts and changes shape in Bihar.
Author: Frank Krishner
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