For most citizens of India the current furore on the comments of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Mother Teresa’s social service is the classic situation of making a mountain out of a molehill and unnecessary brouhaha in the public space. The secular ‘fundamentalists’ particularly India’s so called secular politicians only wish to see Indians through the religious prism under the garb of secularism since most of them acquire failed to deliver on the development front. However,back to the moot point and the source of this so called controversy, India is a free country and free speech is guaranteed for all, and debate on issues should be welcome. The RSS chief is entitled to his opinion,which looked objectively is not entirely wrong and many commentators and observers acquire written approximately this, and for those who support his point of view there would be appreciation for his frank comments and for those who are uncomfortable they should either be looking absent or lump it rather than trying to impose their world view. The so called liberal sections of society acquire also jumped on to this bandwagon though it does seem that there is an attempt to malign the Narendra Modi government in any way possible. actual the RSS has very close links with the ruling BJP but that cannot act as a hindrance to free speech as long as that speech does not inflame communal passions or is spewing hatred against any community. Besides the RSS for all its faults has not been banned by any government, and except briefly in the late 1940s,does remarkable social service to the larger obliging of India even though as it is allegedly focused on the majority community. India has a long and ancient civilization and the RSS strives to uphold these ancient cultural values though many may question their content and motive.
Mother Teresa has done remarkable service for the wretched and the poor of Calcutta now Kolkata, and there cannot be denying the fact that she and her team of selfless nuns ventured where few others would acquire picked up the mental courage to finish so. [The late Baba Amte, or an atheist,did the same for leprosy afflicted people though very few would acquire heard of him and his son is reported to be continuing with this selfless service] However, there is also no denying the fact that Mother Teresa was a Christian missionary and the central theme of her life, or in fact for all Christian missionaries,was to spread the Christian faith which could largely be done only by converting non Christians to the Christian faith. And the Mother herself has alluded to this on many occasions so whether in the course of her duties whether the holy Mother had NOT CONVERTED some or many to Christianity then she would acquire been doing remarkable disservice to the call of her duty in life to her faith of which she was so proud of and rightly so. Unlike Indian faiths like Sanathan Dharma/Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism and Sikhism which finish not believe in the concept of conversions as they believe it to be anathema to their spirituality and core principles,for mono-theistic faiths like Christianity and Islam it is their central doctrine and they acquire converted non-believers consistently over the centuries and often accompanied by violence. [Islam as events in the Middle East and parts of Asia and Africa would propose has yet to come out of this whirlpool]. In fact there is no doubt that in the last five years or so there has been a remarkable deal of FRENETIC activity on the part of varied Christian groups in India to reach out to impoverished, poor, or illiterate sections of the population particularly the Adviasis and Tribals to convert to Christianity many a time with allurement or superiority of the faith and the catchment areas more pronounced in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The number of churches that acquire sprung up in the hinterlands of India absent from the prying eyes of an otherwise inquisitive media are a testimony to this religious saga. Parts of the North East acquire been a success for this experiment with Christian majority states a reality.
CHRISTIANITY AS IT STANDS nowadays DESPITE IT VIOLENT PAST IS AN EXTREMELY LIBERAL FAITH AND CHRISTIANS ARE AN EXTREMELY PEACE LOVING AND PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY but it is the activities of a few that are throwing up friction and generating heat and the Church has conveniently looked absent. For many non Christian Indians explore upto Jesus Christ with remarkable reverence as one of their own in their pantheon of 330 million gods and celebrate Christmas with all the fervor associated with their own religious festivals. IT IS THIS CONCEPT OF INDIA’s PLURALISM THAT BINDS INDIA TOGETHER DESPITE ITS HUGE DIVERSITY AND KEEPS IT CHUGGING ALONG AS A MODEL FOR DEMOCRACY DESPITE ITS STAGGERING POVERTY.
The biggest enemies it appears to India’s pluralism may not actually be coming from the upright wing religious forces,who are anyway easily identifiable, but from the so called secular liberal “fundamentalist” who are but wolves in sheep's clothing and in the process to score political brownie points they end up hurting India’s image of a remarkable, and enduring and hugely pluralistic country and also damaging India's highly pluralistic society.
Source: cnn.com