THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 23 July 2007 — Dominant Christian denominations in Kerala have closed ranks against the state’s communist-led coalition government saying its policies were aimed at ruining their faith and rights.
The pastoral letters read out in churches across the factional divide yesterday came out heavily on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s attempts to control their institutions and attack their faith.
Pastoral letters are open letters addressed by a bishop to the clergy and laity of his diocese containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behavior in particular circumstances.
“At no cost will we allow anyone to interfere in the rights granted to us by the constitution. In case this is done, we would resist it. Even the courts in the country have upheld our rights and ruled in our favor,” the 1.7-million strong Latin Catholic church said in its pastoral letter.
Similar letters were issued by the dominant Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Syrian Orthodox and Marthomite churches. Christians constitute 19 percent of Kerala’s 32 million population. They control a majority of private schools. A church-driven popular uprising against the so-called “cell rule” led to the sacking of the state’s first communist government, claimed to be the first elected through ballot in the world, in 1959 by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The powerful church groups in Thrissur recently formed vigilante groups, threatening the state government to launch the “second liberation struggle” reminiscing the 1958 campaign by anti-communist forces. The call for forming “protection groups” was repeated by almost all major archbishops in the state yesterday and to observer protest days on July 29 and Aug. 15. Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly (Syro-Malabar Church) appealed to the government to stop Marxist student organizations from attacking institutions run by religious groups and guarantee their autonomy. Accusing the government of portraying the church as “traders in education,” the letters urged the laity to keep “heathens” away from the activities of the church and its institutions.
The church was initially angry at Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan’s “tirade” against them and the campaign by feeder outfits like Students Federation of India (SFI) who said the bishops should be “flogged in public.” The SFI activists also disrupted an entrance test conducted by private colleges, prompting the Supreme Court to ask Kerala on Saturday “what type of state are you?” while hearing a petition seeking federal protection.
