KOCHI: A day after row intensified over his criticism of bishops who attended the Christmas party hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian on Tuesday expressed regret and said he was withdrawing three words — ‘cake’, ‘wine’ and ‘goosebumps’ — which hurt the Church, from his remarks. Announcing this at a presser in Kochi, Cherian, however, said he stood firm on his view that the bishops should have raised the Manipur issue at the party.
Hours after Cherian’s press meet, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) president Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, who had announced non-cooperation with the government over the minister’s remarks earlier in the day, welcomed his clarification and said KCBC will put the controversy to rest.
The office of the cardinal said the issue has been settled as the minister had withdrawn his offensive remarks and expressed regret. “The minister has withdrawn the offensive remarks and the issue has been settled. The Church will continue cooperating with the government in development issues,” said Syro-Malankara Church Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese spokesperson Fr Bovas Mathew.
Cardinal Cleemis had, in the morning, termed Cherian’s remarks as “irresponsible” and said it had pained the KCBC. “As KCBC president, I demand the minister withdraw his statement. KCBC has always been proactive in its approach towards the government. The minister has now created a situation contrary to this. It is for him to clarify whether his remarks are the government’s opinion. We will not cooperate with the government until the minister withdraws the statement.,” he said.
As the issue snowballed, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the party will examine Cherian’s statement if the Church was displeased. “There is no need to exaggerate terms used during a speech. We can’t say it is a slip of the tongue. If the remarks pained the bishops, we will examine them and take appropriate steps,” he said.
Attacks against Christians increased manifold in past nine years: Cherian
Realising that antagonising the Church could spoil goodwill, CPM embarked on a face-saving act, and Cherian was asked to withdraw the statement.
Cherian told reporters: “I share very good relationships with bishops and priests and respect Cardinal Cleemis. He said my remarks hurt the Church and that KCBC will not cooperate with us until I withdraw my statement. If the Church feels my remarks on wine and cake inflicted it pain, I withdraw them. However, I want to remind that I had not raised the issue of cake and wine. I stand by my criticism that the bishops should have raised the Manipur issue at the meeting with the PM,” Cherian said. Responding to another question, Cherian also withdrew his remark that some bishops get goosebumps when they get an invite from BJP.
Training his guns on BJP, he accused the party of trying to whip up Hindu sentiments by unleashing attacks against minorities across the country.
“Around 700 incidents of attacks on Christian institutions were reported across the country last year. Of this, 287 cases were in Uttar Pradesh and 148 in Chhattisgarh. Attacks against Christians have increased manifold during the past nine years. The Union and state governments failed in controlling riots in Manipur. Around 200 people were killed, 60,000 people lost their houses, more than 100 places of worship were destroyed and tens of thousands had to flee. Even after months, the clashes are continuing. In my speech, I had said it was inappropriate on the part of the bishops who attended the party to remain mum on these issues,” said Cherian. He alleged that BJP was trying to isolate Muslims and lure Christians.
“As per the wish of Cardinal Cleemis, I withdraw the remarks that pained him. But I stand firm on the second part of my speech that bishops should have raised the Manipur issue at the PM’s meeting,” he said. He asserted that he will continue the fight against Hindutva politics, regardless of consequences.