Despite having key responsibilities in various parties, the fact remains that Christians are not holding positions of power in Tamil Nadu and that there are not enough representatives in the Assembly and Parliament to echo the voice of Christians. This is a major matter of concern for Christians says Calvary Thiagarajan, Secretary of BJP Tamil Nadu’s Minority Morcha.
In conversation with Dinamalar, Calvary Thiagarajan, said that no one in Dravidian parties are pro-Christian but only use Christians as vote banks.
He added, “Under the rule of the Dravidian parties, Christians did not get political recognition. Those parties use Christians like pickles, only to vote in elections. It is the archbishops and the clergy who, as the representatives of the Christians, are mistakenly thought to be the leaders of the community. They get huge amount of money from abroad. When the tax department asks accounts for that money, they feel threatened. That is why, they do not like Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. They are spreading anti-Modi sentiments among Christians. Speaking of atheism, they support the DMK.”
He went on to say, “All Christians are portrayed as anti-Modi and anti-BJP. There are parties for Muslims. They join a Dravidian party alliance and get MLAs. Although there are talented Christians in every party, there is no recognition of them. In the middle, when the DMK-backed Congress-led coalition government was in power, there were seven ministers from Tamil Nadu. Not a single person was a Christian. But in Kerala, even when there is no MP, a Christian is made the Union Minister by Modi. All Christian organizations function as social organizations. Not running politically. This fact is known only to the BJP; In the north-eastern states, such as Goa, many Christians in the BJP are MLAs and ministers. Thus, the Christians there are celebrating the BJP. Christians like me, who have realized that the BJP is not an anti-Christian party, are supporting the BJP.”
While popular opinion is that the BJP is a pro-Hindutva party, it is to be noted that behind the facade of secularism, there lies the ugly truth of communal politics that is being carried out by the Dravidian parties, Thiagarajan said.
(With inputs from Dinamalar)
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.