{"id":69743,"date":"2022-07-07T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/indian-christians-have-little-to-cheer-about-in-modis-gujarat\/"},"modified":"2022-07-07T00:02:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T04:02:00","slug":"indian-christians-have-little-to-cheer-about-in-modis-gujarat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/indian-christians-have-little-to-cheer-about-in-modis-gujarat\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Christians have little to cheer about in Modi’s Gujarat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There’s little hope or assurance of adequate political representation in upcoming provincial polls\n<\/p>\n

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Archbishop Thomas Macwan (center) of Gandhinagar along with the Catholic faithful in western Gujarat state celebrate the canonization of Mother Teresa at St. Xavier’s College Church campus, in Ahmedabad on Sept. 4, 2016. (AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published: July 07, 2022 04:02 AM GMT<\/p>\n

Updated: July 07, 2022 05:06 AM GMT<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Abandoned, unwanted, and grossly underrepresented is how religious minorities, including Christians, feel in the western Indian state of Gujarat \u2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s home state.<\/p>\n

The alienation is so complete that the majority of Christians or Muslims living here are resigned to their fate as second-class citizens in this \u201cmodel state\u201d that owes much to Modi\u2019s development-oriented governance as its chief minister from 2001 to 2014.<\/p>\n

The marginalized communities make no bones about their disillusionment with both the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, which swears by secular-liberal values but practices a softer version of “Hindutva” (Hindu nationalism).<\/p>\n

Naturally, the minorities are seething with anger at being systematically reduced to irrelevance \u2014 it is as if they do not matter in Gujarat. With the provincial assembly polls round the corner, their political fate hangs in the balance.<\/p>\n

There is little hope or assurance of adequate political representation for Christians or Muslims here. And there is little or no other option.<\/p>\n

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rose from the ashes of a nationwide anti-corruption crusade in 2012 and rules Delhi and Punjab in the north, has entered the fray and forged an alliance with the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTS), headed by tribal strongman Chhotu Vasava, himself a legislator.<\/p>\n

“Census figures show Christians barely form 0.50 percent of Gujarat\u2019s 63 million people; but their numbers in about 10 assembly segments, especially in the southern tribal belt”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Christians, who have sizable numbers in the tribal belt of South Gujarat, are keeping their fingers crossed when it comes to the number of nominations they could expect for their co-religionists.<\/p>\n

The BJP never bothered to grant the Christian community adequate representation in the state assembly election, while the Congress indulges in mere tokenism \u2014 repeating the nomination of the lone Christian candidate, Punaji Gamit, for the last four terms.<\/p>\n

Even Gamit\u2019s nomination stands threatened due to a campaign by pro-Hindu forces, but Congress would still like to ride on his successful run so far. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Christians are restless but there is little room for bargaining in the upcoming assembly polls, scheduled for November.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther than the one constituency represented by a Protestant, the Christian community now wants at least another nine candidates to be fielded in other Christian-dominated constituencies,\u201d Dinesh Gamit, a prominent tribal activist from Vyara in the southern Tapi district, told UCA News.<\/p>\n

Census figures show Christians barely form 0.50 percent of Gujarat\u2019s 63 million people; but their numbers in about 10 assembly segments, especially in the southern tribal belt, are estimated to be around 30-60 percent, which is attributed to large-scale conversions in the past few decades.<\/p>\n

Not for nothing were the 27 tribal belt constituencies considered a stronghold for Congress. But since the 1998 post-Dangs saffron surge, the once-dominant party\u2019s tally has declined from 17 to just a dozen seats now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To be fair, both the BJP and Congress do nominate Christian candidates for the local polls in pockets with Christian majorities. But they also ensure that no winning Christian rises up to any position of power at the village, block, or district level, says Haresh Gamit, a south Gujarat-based Christian activist.<\/p>\n

Right now, some 15 Christian elected members are serving on different local bodies across tribal districts of South Gujarat, most of them from Congress, but also from the BJP.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when it comes to elections for the provincial assembly or parliament, Christian will not get nominated. That is for sure,\u201d Haresh told UCA News.<\/p>\n

He also smelt a \u201cpolitical conspiracy\u201d in this, to what he called \u201ccurtailing the Christian leadership from gaining influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is right. If one more Christian legislator makes it to the Gujarat Assembly, there is bound to be a demand for nominating one of them for the Indian Parliament.<\/p>\n

Both the Congress and BJP, or even AAP, irrespective of their ideologies, will not want that.<\/p>\n

“The systematic marginalization of Muslims since the 2002 sectarian violence has ensured they do not even think of political mobilization, lest they be seen as anti-Hindu”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gujarat\u2019s Muslims, who account for 12 percent of the state\u2019s population, are already demanding their fair share of the electoral pie.<\/p>\n

Muslims don\u2019t want to be taken for granted, but they too are not in a defiant mood as yet. Like Christians, they do vent their anger and frustration over the lack of adequate political representation but don\u2019t expect a miracle anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Like Christians in the tribal areas, Muslims too have an additional option now in the form of the\u00a0AAP. Ideally, they should be getting 17 to 18 people in the 182-seat state assembly. Right now they have only three legislators.<\/p>\n

The systematic marginalization of Muslims since the 2002 sectarian violence has ensured they do not even think of political mobilization, lest they be seen as anti-Hindu.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Hindu Patels who make up 14 percent of the population, are looking at cornering at least 50 nominations each from the BJP and Congress.<\/p>\n

Muslims, like Christians, feel abandoned with little or no future in the political landscape of Gujarat. The BJP openly and brazenly shuns them and the Congress does not want to be seen promoting their candidatures.<\/p>\n

This situation has been in the making since the 1980s and both the BJP and Congress have contributed to it, by design or by default.<\/p>\n

There was a time in the 1980s when Gujarat had three Muslim parliamentarians and a dozen legislators thanks to the political hegemony of Congress.<\/p>\n

The sectarian riots in the 1980s and 1990s after the demolition of the Babri mosque followed by the widespread violence after the Godhra train burning in 2002 further marginalized Muslims.<\/p>\n

The BJP\u2019s successful run in Gujarat, whether in state or national polls, continues to this day. The pro-Hindu party looks virtually unstoppable as the state prepares for assembly elections barely five months away.<\/p>\n

Congress is still trying hard to shed the minority appeasement tag, with little success.<\/p>\n

Gujarat\u2019s political landscape shows how electoral politics in India plummeted to depths nobody could have imagined until 2014 when its chief minister Modi became prime minister.<\/p>\n

Beyond tokenism, there seems to be little hope for Muslims or Christians in the \u2018Gujarat model\u2019 of politics.<\/p>\n

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.<\/em><\/p>\n

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