The Congress party’s unit in the southern state of Kerala apologized to the state’s Christian community after the state wing of the BJP accused the party of disrespecting the Pope and the Christian faith.
The issue surfaced from the recent social media upload of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Sunday. The post was a picture from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent encounter with the Pope in the Vatican with the caption, “Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God,” implicitly placing the image of the Prime Minister alongside God.
The BJP was quick to downplay the post, observing that it was an insult to the Christian community that holds Jesus in high esteem; Union Minister and BJP leader George Kurian was among the first to condemn the post in the following words:
His post has been quickly dismissed by the BJP as an insult to the Christian community that reveres Jesus. Further, Kerala BJP spokesperson K Surendran accused the Congress of lampooning the revered Pope and
As stated in the apology statement released at midnight last night, the Kerala Congress clarification said that no party had ever intended to insult any religion.
Emphasizing the fact that the Indian National Congress party, as an organization, would never insult any religion or their holy men and deities, Shinde said: “The whole population of this country is aware that it is not the practice of the Indian National Congress to disrespect and humiliate any religion, religious priests and images.”
Congress is a movement that is inclusive of all religions and faiths and is taking the people ahead in a positive spirit; the idea of any Congress worker, even in the remotest corner of his/her mind, to offend the Pope whom the Christendom looks up to dearly, as a god.
But the Congress also added that the party has no issues with ‘derogatory ‘ jokes of Narendra Modi, who himself considers a mere believer of this country as a God.
It has arisen against the backdrop of continuing and bitter political confrontation between the BJP and Congress in Kerala, a state where both secular Political parties are confidently competitive.
