India is a country where secularism and pluralism are considered to be essential to the way of life. News of intolerance against minorities are seen here as a threat to the social fabric of India. Any news about the oppression of minorities in India, fake or real is generally blown of out of proportion and often politicized. Hindus are often branded as an intolerant people. However a reverse intolerance is quite prevalent in India, although seldom discussed in the mainstream media. Such reverse trends are usually visible in places where the church and other institutions hold sway over a large group of the society. The recent protests by the church and some Christian outfits against the appointment of Kummanam Rajasekharan as the governor of Mizoram is the latest example of this reverse intolerance taking place. Mizoram is located in North-East India and it has the highest tribal population concentration amongst all states in India. The Scheduled Tribe majority state is also one of the three states in India which has a Christian majority which is 87% according to sources. The Presbyterian Church dominates the north while the Baptist church dominates the Southern part of Mizoram. The church has a sizeable influence over the people of the state and they try really hard to maintain that status quo.The BJP led Central Government’s decision to appoint Kummanam Rajasekharan as the new Governor of Mizoram did not go down well with the ‘secular’ church leaders.
Kummanam Rajasekharan started his career as a sub-editor in Deepika newspaper; he went on to work in other dailies such as Kerala Desam and Kerala Dwani too. He joined as a government employee in Food Corporation of India (FCI) in 1976. He became district secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad in 1979 and rose to the post of Joint Secretary in 1981. Rajasekharan resigned from FCI and joined RSS in 1987 as a pracharak. He was appointed as the chairman of Janmabhumi daily newspaper in 2011. He has served as the State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party Kerala unit since 18th December, 2015. On Tuesday, the 29th of May he assumed the role of Governor of Mizoram.
Shortly after his swearing in ceremony, protests began against his appointment by some Christian outfits. The Christian outfits which are termed ‘radical’ by the Organiser, such as Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) and People’s Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM) took to the streets. The outfits started speaking ill of the newly appointed Governor Rajasekharan, who otherwise has been respected in his home state of Kerala by all religious and political leaders. The PRISM workers hoisted black flags in Aizawl the capital city of Mizoram after the swearing in ceremony. The hypocrisy of the PRISM workers was such that they wanted the Governor to be driven out for being “anti-secular” in a ‘Christian state’.
PRISM president Vanlalruata issued a statement which began with “We all know that Mr Kummanam Rajasekharan was newly sworn in as the Governor of our state. He is well-known for his anti-secularism that goes against the Indian Constitution.” He further added that “Ours is a Christian state and he is an RSS activist who is actively involved in various Hindu organisations.”
These statements issued by PRISM show how the Christian organizations operating in the country want to create no-go zones for non-christians The ‘charitable’ missionary work theory has been debunked by these statements coming from Mizoram. The tribes of Mizoram were slowly converted into followers of various churches over the years; they now hold sway and are looking to dominate the state’s politics as well. This is the new age class system which the church wants to put forward, and anti-establishment activity is being encouraged by the Christian groups in Mizoram. These protests should be quashed immediately and a strong message needs to be sent to the Christian groups which are looking forward to act as political groups as a result of them dominating the demographics of the area.
So much for secularism- it has just become another word for anti-Hindu. The whole basis of the demand contradicts secularism, but all they see is an RSS fundamentalist. PRISM and GCIC leaders perhaps need some schooling to understand what secularism means. The appointment of a Muslim President (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad) by a right-wing BJP party under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s rule is secularism. Demanding a Christian secular governor for a ‘Christian state’, however, is not.