Breaking his silence on the rising incidence of attacks on churches and aggressive religious conversions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government would ensure complete freedom of faith.
Modi asserted that everyone had the right to retain or adopt the religion of his choice without coercion, and warned that his government would not allow any religious group, of majority or minority community , to incite hatred against other. “Mine will be a government that gives equal respect to all religions.“
The PM's comments come not just in the wake of hate speeches by fringe Sangh elements but also after repeated concerns raised by US President Obama about religious intolerance in India. In a strong warning to the fringe elements, he said, “We cannot accept violence against any religion on any pretext. We will act strongly in this regard.“ Modi appealed to all religious groups “to act with restraint, mutual respect and tolerance in the true spirit of this ancient nation which is manifest in our Constitution“.
The PM's comments came at a meeting organized by the Syro-Malabar Catholic church to celebrate Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Euphresia being declared saints by the Vatican, and will put to rest speculation about any changes in conversion laws or in India's constitutional commitment to secularism. Modi's silence on the rising anxiety had led many observers to warn that his development agenda could be washed away by such controversies.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley , who was also present at the event, said the recent attacks on churches were “unacceptable aberrations“, and that the culprits would be punished. In one case, the guilty had been identified and brought to book while in all other cases strong action would be taken, he said, adding that mischief makers would have no place in the country .
Recalling the words of Swami Vivekanand--“We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true“-Modi said the principle of equal respect and treatment for all faiths had been part of the Indian ethos for thousands of years.
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