India heads G20, but saffron hotheads besmirch the nation by vandalising Christmas programme
The government and the Bharatiya Janata Party enthusiastically talk about the growing economic clout and strategic importance in international affairs—and rightly so. For India has shed much of the baggage of the Nehruvian Consensus that was a drag. The world is optimistic about good outcomes from India’s presidency of G20, especially in the conflict in Ukraine. In a recent telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on dialogue and diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. In October, Putin had called Modi “icebreaker.” The reason is simple: India has refused to condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine, despite annoying the Western world. This has given considerable leverage to Modi; he has the opportunity to broker peace between the two warring nations. Modi’s counsel to Putin, “today’s era is not of war,” made on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, has been appreciated across the globe. On the economic front, there is buzz among global investors about shifting manufacturing facilities from China to, among other countries, India. Then there is the unfolding story of startups, in the success of which government policies have played some role. As PM Modi said a couple of months ago, the number of unicorn startups in India has doubled since 2021. A unicorn is a privately held startup company with a valuation of more than $1 billion. In general, the economy is picking up, with recovery healing the wounds left by the waves of Covid-19, the ensuing lockdowns, and financial losses.
Against such an agreeable backdrop, it is agonising to notice the unabated depredations of saffron hotheads. At a time when the country and the world are celebrating Christmas, there is a news report of two and a half dozen young men, armed with sticks, attacked a Christmas programme at Purola village in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Friday. Their justification for the assault was standard: forced conversions were taking place there. And what, pray, did the police do? They detained six people, including Pastor Lazarus Cornelius and his wife Sushma Cornelius who were hit by the men claiming to be members of a Hindu organisation! The victim is the villain. Cornelius, who belonged to Union Church, Mussoorie, was reportedly leading prayers. Though they were later released and the issue was resolved peacefully, the very action against the victims of attack speaks volumes about the partisan manner in which the BJP administration in the state is functioning. To be fair to the cops, they also registered a cross FIR against the group of attackers. At the heart of the problem, however, is the vicious propaganda against Christians, especially their clergy, which has been imbibed by a section of the votaries of Hindutva. The BJP’s central leadership should rein in Hindutva firebrands.
