Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s New Year get-together for notables in civil society provided an opportunity for the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) to ease strained relationships with Church leaders.
Minister for Culture Saji Cherian had angered the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) last week by imputing that Church leaders developed goosebumps after savouring the cake and wine served at a Christmas party hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Christmas Day and, consequently, passed over flagging the ethnic violence against Christians in Manipur at the high-profile event in New Delhi.
Withdrawing words
Mr. Cherian’s “disparaging and hurtful” comments compelled KCBC president Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis to notify the ruling front that the Church would shun the government if the Minister did not recant. Goaded by the politically consequential ultimatum, Mr. Cherian disavowed his speech to some extent by withdrawing the words “cake, wine and goosebumps”, which he said the KCBC deemed hurtful.
Television footage of Wednesday’s luncheon event showed Mr. Cherian walking up the Cardinal and glad-handing him.
Ensuring cordial ties
Mr. Cherian also interacted with other Church leaders. Left Independent legislator K.T. Jaleel, who was sharply critical of the Church “not taking up Manipur with Mr. Modi”, also seemed to make amends by mixing with the Church leaders. Mr. Vijayan also made the Church leaders feel comfortable and welcome by interacting with them at their tables.
The LDF appeared to have stalled the Congress and BJP’s attempt to politically exploit the perceived rift between the government and the Church.
It also did not help the government that Mr. Cherian’s controversial choice of words provoked Deepika, a pro-Catholic Malayalam newspaper, to slam Mr. Vijayan for failing to rein in and repudiate Mr. Cherian’s stream of invective against bishops.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), actively trying to woo Christian votes in Kerala, sought to disadvantage the ruling front by blaming Mr. Vijayan for “endorsing” Mr. Cherian. Union Minister of State V. Muraleedharan and BJP State president K. Surendran said Mr. Cherian’s words reflected the CPI(M) ‘s inherent disdain for religious leaders of all hues.
SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan and leaders of influential Muslim social organisations were present.
