KOTTAYAM: A day after polling, BJP’s father-son duo P C George and Shone George launched a scathing attack on the Catholic Church, accusing it — and its official mouthpiece, Deepika daily — of working against the NDA in the assembly elections.
“If the Church doesn’t want us, we don’t want them either,” Shone said on Friday. Claiming that Christian leaders in the BJP had effectively intervened in issues affecting the Church, including the controversial FCRA Bill, he asked, “What will I tell Amit Shah if he asks me what the Church has done for us in return?” However, he later softened his stance, saying he would raise a complaint with the bishops over what he described as biased coverage targeting the BJP.
BJP state vice-president Shone is the NDA candidate in Pala and P C George in neighbouring Poonjar. “We intervened in the FCRA issue after taking the concerns of the bishops and the Church seriously. Subsequently, parliament postponed the bill.
The BJP and the Union government have already assured discussions to address these concerns. Despite this, attempts were made from various quarters to deliberately harm the BJP. I strongly condemn the campaigns carried out by the Deepika daily on election day,” he said.
“Certain individuals, not the Church, are engaging in unholy acts in support of the LDF and UDF. The Church must rein them in; otherwise, our interventions on its behalf will be undermined. I will raise this with the bishops,” Shone added.
‘Bishop intervened to canvass votes for UDF’
P C George, in an expletive-laden attack on the clergy, alleged that Mar Jose Pulickal, Bishop of the Kanjirappally diocese, personally intervened to canvass votes for the UDF candidate in Poonjar. “The Kanjirappally bishop directed nuns in convents to vote for the UDF. Is that right? What authority does he have to say that? Is the Church part of the UDF?” he asked.
He also described some bishops as “shameless,” while clarifying that his criticism was aimed at a section of the clergy, not the Church as a whole. George added that the Bishop of Pala had issued no directive to vote for any party. “Those who speak politics will be treated as politicians. We will deal with them politically. We will not accord them respect,” he said.
George maintained that he had no issues with the Church as an institution but only with certain bishops. George, who said FCRA bill will be passed in parliament, also questioned why churches were hesitant to disclose details of foreign funds they receive.
He maintained he had no issue with the Church as an institution, but only with certain bishops. George also said the FCRA Bill would be passed in parliament and questioned why churches were reluctant to disclose details of the foreign funds they receive.