Flutter in Varanasi amidst Christian leaders asking community not to sign 'anti-Modi' note

Counterview Desk

Ahead of about 3,000 Christians endorsing a note, written by Fr Cedric Prakash, Fr Prakash Luis, both Jesuits, and John Dayal, condemning a section of Christian leaders' meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, efforts were made to persuade community representatives not to endorse it.

This was revealed in a letter from Fr Anand IMS, Varanasi, to Fr Roby CMI, who it is claimed was asking priests and nuns not to sign the note, which asked why top Church leaders failed to remind the PM "of the continuing mayhem in Manipur, and the 3 attacks a day against Christians in India in 2023."

Text:

My dear friend Fr Roby,

This letter is in response to your letter addressed to the CRI Delhi, in which you have appealed to the CRI members not to support the signature campaign titled NOT IN MY NAME. The signature campaign is to condemn the participation of the selected Church leaders in the Christmas dinner hosted by the PM and the church leaders' and the PM's silence on Manipur issue and the persecution of Christians in different parts of the country.

I have great appreciation for you and your good attempts for dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. God has blessed you with immense capabilities and skills to organize beautiful cultural programs on the theme of inter faith harmony. I was overjoyed when you shifted from Kochi to Delhi to continue this most relevant ministry in the national capital. You are aware that I too am involved in the similar ministry in a small and humble way. In my dialogue with the rural and urban commoners, I see an India different from what PM speaks of and what media shows.

Do you really think that the Christmas party organized by the PM, was an open dialogue as you mentioned in your letter? We haven't forgotten his visit to the Delhi Cathedral on Easter day where an opportunity for dialogue was denied, perhaps on the pretext of protocol.

You say "we need to guard against those who pretend to be friends.." of CRI. It's not friends of CRI, but we members of CRI who want you to be cautious and be on guard against that man:

#whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of innocent Muslims killed in Gujarat massacre two recafes ago,

# he who has been befooling this nation for the past ten years, with acche din and other innumerable false promises,

# he who has allowed inflation to reach its zenith and India's rank in the Global Hunger Index to the lowest,

#he who has handed over the nation's natural resources, land, water, air and sea ports, railway stations, sea and sea shores to his crony capitalist friend almost freely,

# he who has deprived the livelihood and future of millions of farmers, fisherfolk and unorganized labourers of India,

# he who has been permanently silent over mob lynching, and so much of violence on the minorities including the Christians of Manipur, Dalits and Tribals,

# he who has destroyed the Indian democracy, replacing it with theocracy and majoritarianism

# he who has destroyed freedom of Press in India... (the list can go on)

Please come to Varanasi, I shall show you his cruel atrocities on Gandhi, Gandhi's followers and also the Gandhian legacy which he wants to erase totally.

He spoke to you about his good relationship with the Christian community, the importance of Christmas etc. Are you aware that even on Christmas day Christians who gathered to pray were attacked and imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh? Today there are 51 innocent Christians languishing in the jails of UP alone (similarly in the jails of Chattisgarh, MP and Haryana) including three Catholics, on false charges of conversion. A priest of the Catholic diocese of Varanasi was in the jail for four and half months, and another priest of Allahabad diocese for 81 days, both on totally false charges.

Are you aware that even on Christmas day Christians who gathered to pray were attacked and imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh?

Jesus too was invited to dine with affluent Pharisees. Responding to the invitation, he went, dined with them, but used the opportunity to announce the Gospel and denounce the evil. You silently listened to the Modi (go)-spel (and perhaps were spell bound). Do you think you will ever be able to denounce the evils I have listed above in front of him?

I think you and the other leaders of the Church were herded into PM's party by Alphonse Kannanthanam, Tom Vadakkan and John Barla who will continue to organise similar parties, but will ensure that none gets a chance to speak on these delicate issues but only listen to the monologue/ soliloquy or MAN KI BAAT of the super performer or the super showman of the political world. The Catholic trio are trying to herd the Christian sheep and shepherds of Kerala and other places into the fold or tent of that wolf in the disguise of a sheep. Alphonse has succeeded in this game of herding in Goa and North East. Jesus calls such false shepherds thieves (John 10).

I am glad that the signature campaign is getting a tremendous support from the religious and laity. It proves that there is an awakening in support of truth, justice, equality, liberty, fraternity, democracy and the rights of the minorities and other marginalized. It's unfortunate that most of the leaders of the Church are blind to the reality due to the clericalism and institutionalism they are trapped in. Prophets like Archbishop Peter Machado are exceptions who have the courage of Christ to denounce evil. As followers of Jesus the liberator, we will continue to raise our voice against this slavery of a narcissist, fascist, supremacist, hypocrite modern Hitler. Are you not seeing his skillful designs to make India a Hindu rashtra? Or are you pretending to be blind?

Comments

Jose Varghes. said…

These are uninspired Church leaders who comprowho compromise truth for some mundane short lived benefits.

January 11, 2024

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Search This Blog