Our Spl Correspondent
CHENNAI, JULY 5: Within hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directives that more and more Northeastern BJP leaders should improve their outreach among Christians in southern India, senior leader N Chuba Ao reached Chennai to carry out his part of the job.
BJP national vice president Chuba Ao is also the party’s Prabhari (in-charge) of another predominantly Christian State of Meghalaya.
An interaction with Christians in the Tamil Nadu capital was organised on Monday, July 4 by Bishop K Johnson of the International Independent Church of India Diocese.
Sources said, Chuba Ao agreed to attend the interaction programme after doing the necessary
coordination with BJP general secretary in-charge Tamil Nadu, CT Ravi, State unit chief
Annamalai, and Tamil Nadu organization in-charge Keshavji.
When contacted, Chuba Ao told Nagaland Page: “I was proposing a visit to Chennai from before to meet some Christian leaders. I was only thrilled about the same when Prime Minister Modiji in his address at the Hyderabad National Executive meet said that more and more Northeastern BJP leaders should visit southern States. So I executed the plan at the earliest in coordination with general secretary CT Ravi, who is in-charge of Tamil Nadu.”
Asked what are a few essential points he highlighted, Chuba Ao said, “Basically, I focused on
the Prime Minister’s vision of inclusive growth. You see, we know from the days of Upanishads, Indian civilization has followed the principle of Vasudeva Kutumbakam (The world is our family).”
“The teachings of this cherished philosophy are that there should be no confrontation between different sections of people on the basis of religions. At the end of the day, for human being, Vasudeva Kutumbakam should be like a religion. This is also suggested in the teachings of Christianity and our Bible. There is no scope of confrontation in this world and it is more so at this juncture of human history.”
To a question whether Christian leaders in Chennai raised matters related to ‘Hindu chauvinism’ practiced by a section of the BJP and the RSS, he said, “Yes, some issues came up. I always say most of it is spread by our political rivals and other detractors. There is also a communication gap at times. So, the answer is more interaction. And here lies the significance of Modiji’s Hyderabad speech.”
In his address on July 3, the Prime Minister directed the BJP leaders in the Northeast to reach out to non-Hindus and travel to States like Kerala to highlight the BJP’s sincere works and efforts to protect the interests of the Christian community in various sectors.
