In a surprising but not entirely unexpected move, pro Christian bodies in Tamil Nadu have raised a protest against the election dates. The Tamil Nadu Bishop’s Council has written to the state Election Commission in order to have the polling date for the state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry changed, as shown below:-
Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council wrote earlier this week to State Election Commission seeking change in polling date in TN & Puducherry. The letter states that 'polling date (18th April) coincides with Maundy Thursday & it would not be conducive for the people of Christian community.'
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2019
According to this tweet, the Tamil Nadu Bishop’s Council is miffed over the fact that the polling date for the state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is falling on the 18th of April, which according to the Christian calendar is the Maundy Thursday. According to them, this would not be ‘conducive for the Christian community’.
To quote Rev. Dr Antony Pappusamy, president of the organization, “If polling is on Thursday, 18th April, there are two important disturbances for the Christian people — [Firstly,] Christian teachers cannot attend religious services on that day. Secondly, since many of the polling stations are in schools and most of these schools are located on church campuses, it would be inconvenient for people to come to church and make arrangements for the religious services.”
This comes as no surprise, since the pseudo secular forces are now resorting to making mountains out of mole hills. When the dates for the Lok Sabha elections were announced, AAP leaders, supported by the Trinamool Congress, accused the BJP of trying to reduce Muslim votes by ‘intentionally marking dates from May 6th onwards for the Lok Sabha elections.’
To quote controversial AAP leader Amanatullah Khan, “…May 12, the date on which Delhi will be going for polls, will be celebrated as ‘Ramzan’ and if Muslims vote less, it will directly help the BJP.”
He was seconded by the TMC leader and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who said that “The seven-phase elections in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal will be tough for Muslim voters as they observe ‘Roza’ ahead of the Ramzan festival. He further added that the BJP did not want minorities to cast their votes. But we aren’t worried. People are committed to ‘BJP hatao-desh bachao’.”
No wonder people reacted harshly to these absurd statements. To everyone’s surprise, even AIMIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi criticized the two parties. To quote him, “This whole controversy is totally uncalled for and unnecessary. I would earnestly request those political parties to please not use the Muslim community and Ramzan for whatever reasons you have. Muslims will definitely fast in Ramzan, they go out and lead a normal life, they go to the office, even the poorest of the poor will also fast. If they are so worried about Muslims during Ramzan, what do they do for Muslims for the rest of the year?”
As the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are near, the fragmented opposition, already on the backfoot with the rising resentment against their absurd propaganda, is now resorting to the classic ‘Divide and Rule’ in a last ditch effort to capture enough votes to stall BJP’s efforts into getting reelected to power. However, the voters, for a refreshing change, are ready to bring a leader who acts, and not jeopardizes the nation in the name of capturing some vote banks.
