Columns:
As a Christian, Suddenly I Am A Stranger In My Own Country-India, Writes Julio Ribeiro To PM Narendra Modi
Is it coincidence or a well-thought-out plan that the systematic
targeting of a small and peaceful community should begin only after the
BJP government of Narendra Modi came to power last May?
Written by Julio Ribeiro
|
Updated: March 16, 2015 2:44 pm
Ex IPS Julio Ribeiro Attack On Modi Govt
There was a time, not very long ago — one year short of 30, to be
precise — when only a Christian was chosen to go to Punjab to fight what
then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi termed “the nation’s battle” against
separatists. I had accepted a “demotion” from secretary in the Union
home ministry to DGP of the state of Punjab at the personal request of
the prime minister.
Then home secretary, Ram Pradhan, and my dear friend, B.G. Deshmukh,
then chief secretary to the government of Maharashtra, were
flabbergasted. “Why did you accept this assignment?” they asked. The
same question was put to me over the phone by then President Zail Singh.
But Arjun Singh, the cabinet minister who personally escorted me by
special aircraft from Delhi to Chandigarh, remarked that when my
appointment was announced the next morning, the Hindus of Punjab would
breathe more freely and rejoice. I presume Hindus would include RSS
cadres who had been pinned into a corner by the separatists.
When 25 RSS men on parade were shot dead in cold blood one morning,
then Punjab Governor S.S. Ray and I rushed to the spot to console the
stricken families. The governor visited 12 homes, I visited the rest.
The governor’s experience was different from mine. He was heckled and
abused. I was welcomed.
Today, in my 86th year, I feel threatened, not wanted, reduced to a
stranger in my own country. The same category of citizens who had put
their trust in me to rescue them from a force they could not comprehend
have now come out of the woodwork to condemn me for practising a
religion that is different from theirs. I am not an Indian anymore, at
least in the eyes of the proponents of the Hindu Rashtra.
Is it coincidence or a well-thought-out plan that the systematic
targeting of a small and peaceful community should begin only after the
BJP government of Narendra Modi came to power last May? “Ghar wapsi”,
the declaration of Christmas as “Good Governance Day”, the attack on
Christian churches and schools in Delhi, all added to a sense of siege
that now afflicts these peaceful people.
Christians have consistently punched above their weight — not as much
as the tiny Parsi community, but just as noticeably. Education, in
particular, has been their forte. Many schools, colleges, related
establishments that teach skills for jobs have been set up and run by
Christians. They are much in demand. Even diehard Hindus have sought
admission in such centres of learning and benefited from the commitment
and sincerity of Christian teachers. Incidentally, no one seems to have
been converted to Christianity, though many, many have imbibed Christian
values and turned “pseudo-secularist”.
Hospitals, nursing homes, hospices for dying cancer patients needing
palliative care — many of these are run by Christian religious orders or
Christian laymen devoted to the service of humanity. Should they desist
from doing such humanitarian work for fear of being so admired and
loved that a stray beneficiary converts of his or her own accord? Should
only Hindus be permitted to do work that could sway the sentiments of
stricken people in need of human love and care?
The Indian army was headed by a Christian general, the navy more than
once, and same with the air force. The country’s defence forces have
countless men and women in uniform who are Christians. How can they be
declared non-Indians by Parivar hotheads out to create a pure Hindu
Rashtra?
It is tragic that these extremists have been emboldened beyond
permissible limits by an atmosphere of hate and distrust. The Christian
population, a mere 2 per cent of the total populace, has been subjected
to a series of well-directed body blows. If these extremists later turn
their attention to Muslims, which seems to be their goal, they will
invite consequences that this writer dreads to imagine.
I was somewhat relieved when our prime minister finally spoke up at a
Christian function in Delhi a few days ago. But the outburst of Mohan
Bhagwat against Mother Teresa, an acknowledged saint — acknowledged by
all communities and peoples — has put me back on the hit list. Even more
so because BJP leaders, like Meenakshi Lekhi, chose to justify their
chief’s remarks.
What should I do? What can I do to restore my confidence? I was born
in this country. So were my ancestors, some 5,000 or more years ago. If
my DNA is tested, it will not differ markedly from Bhagwat’s. It will
certainly be the same as the country’s defence minister’s as our
ancestors arrived in Goa with the sage Parshuram at the same time.
Perhaps we share a common ancestor somewhere down the line. It is an
accident of history that my forefathers converted and his did not. I do
not and never shall know the circumstances that made it so.
What does reassure me in these twilight years, though, is that there
are those of the predominant Hindu faith who still remember my small
contribution to the welfare of the country of our birth. During a recent
trip to Rajgurunagar in the Khed taluka of Pune district to visit
schools that my NGO, The Bombay Mothers and Children Welfare Society,
had adopted, I stopped at Lonavla for idli and tea. A group of
middle-aged Maharashtrians sitting on the next table recognised me and
stopped to greet and talk. A Brahmin couple returning from Kuwait (as I
later learnt) also came up to inquire if I was who I was and then took a
photograph with me.
It warmed the cockles of my heart that ordinary Hindus, not known to
me, still thought well of me and would like to be friends 25 years after
my retirement, when I could not directly serve them. It makes me hope
that ordinary Hindu men and women will not be swayed by an ideology that
seeks to spread distrust and hate with consequences that must be
avoided at all cost.
The writer, a retired IPS officer,was Mumbai police commissioner,DGP
Gujarat and DGP Punjab,and is a former Indian ambassador to Romania
Former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro questions PM's vision on religious intolerance, says India will be next Pakistan
Former IPS officer Julio
Ribeiro on Monday in an interview with CNN-IBN questioned Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's vision on the religious intolerance as integral part of
Indian society. The former IPS officer said that the way there has been
anti-minority developments in India, the country will be the next
Pakistan, a failed state.
Ribeiro further said that the Prime Minister is in a soup and has
no vision toward the minorities in India. If things go on like that he
will lose the 10-11 per cent of votes of the minorities that he bagged
in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The former police officer took a jibe at PM asking if this is his
planned approach that he advertised during Lok Sabha election campaign.
Former
IPS officer Julio Ribeiro on Monday in an interview with CNN-IBN
questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision on the religious
intolerance as integral part of Indian society.
#julio ribeiro #narendra modi #minorities
Ribeiro is a Padma Vibhushan awardee and was Punjab Police chief
during the insurgency in the state in 1980. He held other important
portfolios in Government of India before and after his retirement from
police force.
