Christians, right-wingers dig in their heels after Mohan Bhagwat's comments on Mother Teresa

Sangh ideologue MG Vaidya tore into Missionaries of Charity's defence by saying Mother Teresa's "good work was for a purpose: to convert people to Christianity."

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Sunita Kumar and MG Vaidya
Missionaries of Charity spokesperson Sunita Kumar and RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya.

Sunita Kumar and MG Vaidya
Missionaries of Charity spokesperson Sunita Kumar and RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya.

It's virtual war out there as Christians and the rightwingers dig in their heels on opposite sides of the religious divide after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's proclamation on Monday that Mother Teresa's main objective was to convert people to Christianity.

While Missionaries of Charity spokesperson Sunita Kumar gave a clean bill to the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Sangh ideologue M.G. Vaidya tore into its defence by saying the Mother's "good work was for a purpose: to convert people to Christianity."

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He added that even the RSS worked for the society and its poor on several projects, but it was "selfless" unlike the missionaries. "Christianity does not accept plurality of faith. There is one god, but the methods of reaching him can be different," Vaidya said, adding, "The Sarsanghchalak was only underlining the fact in his address in Rajasthan on Monday."

The RSS also steadfastly stood behind its leader on Tuesday, saying that the missionaries came to India only to convert people in the name of serving them.

Main agenda

Defending Bhagwat, VHP leader Vyankatesh said conversion was the main agenda of the missionaries, "The RSS chief's comment was correct. The missionary didn't serve people with an altruistic motive."

He also sought to know about the status of poor children the Mother worked with, "Where are these children? Most of them were Hindu kids. Where are they now?"

Bhagwat, however, remained unfazed and told a gathering in Jaipur on Tuesday there was a need to revive Hindu culture as people with no understanding of "our society and culture" were moving ahead because of the "weaknesses" in Hindu society.

But Kumar hit back at the "misinformed" Bhagwat's comment, saying, "It should be absolutely clear that conversion was not going on when Mother was there, nor is it going on now. The whole motive is to serve the poor selflessly.

"A Muslim is treated like a Muslim and a Hindu like a Hindu. I am a Sikh and that never affects my relationship with the Missionaries of Charity," she said, adding that allfaith meetings are regularly held on their premises.

Bhagwat's statement comes in the midst of a heated debate on the controversial 'ghar wapsi' (homecoming) programme, with the Opposition claiming that hardline Hindu groups were forcing people to convert to Hinduism. Hindu groups have, for years, accused Christian missionaries of luring poor people with money and other inducements.

Fierce attack

While the government said in Parliament it had nothing to do with Bhagwat's remarks, Christian institutions and non-BJP parties launched a fierce attack on the RSS chief.

Former principal of Loreto Day School (the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in Sealdah, Sister S.M. Cyril, who knew Teresa closely, said it was "silly and stupid" to think like that. "It is completely wrong... She (Mother Teresa) never hoped that those being served will convert to Christianity," the Padma Shri awardee said.

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The Catholic Church also voiced strong resentment over Bhagwat's remarks.

"It is unfortunate that the services of a world-renowned Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna awardee are being dragged into unwarranted controversies," Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) president Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis said in Thiruvananthapuram.

"I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her (sic)," tweeted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi came out in support of Bhagwat, saying Teresa herself had admitted that her job was to bring people into the Christian fold. "Kindly read Navin Chawla's book, who was an old Congress loyalist. In an interview, Mother Teresa says 'I am in the service of Jesus and my job is to spread the word of Christianity and bring people to its fold'," she said.

On whether she was trying to justify Bhagwat's comments, Lekhi said she had nothing to do with what he had said.

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Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the comment showed the RSS leader's "narrow-mindedness and fundamentalist thinking". Pilot said it was "painful" to see Mother Teresa's lifelong dedication to the service of the destitute being doubted. "Bhagwat has put a question mark on his own wisdom," he added.

RSS slammed

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted, "Condemn Mohan Bhagwat's uncharitable remarks against Mother Teresa. Pl respect her dedicated service to the poor and under privilege (sic)."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too slammed Bhagwat's comments as reflective of a "prejudiced mindset" and sought action against people making such assertions about Mother Teresa.

Trinamool Congress MP and party's national spokesperson Derek O'Brien said, "The statement made by the RSS chief is condemnable. What will the one who wears pinstripe say to the one who wears khakis?"

Criticising Bhagwat's statement, senior West Bengal PCC leader Manas Bhuiyan said the people of Bengal don't subscribe to the RSS chief's view.