With Kerala a mountain to climb for BJP, party leader treks to Christian hill shrine amid outreach

This was Radhakrishnan’s second attempt to climb the Malayattoor Hill and visit the shrine. He had led a group of pilgrims to the Christian hill shrine on Good Friday also but failed to make it to the top.

“I took the Malayattoor pilgrimage with a spiritual ecstasy. What I desired in this journey was only religious harmony in the country. I am a staunch believer. One can go to Mookambika temple only if Devi (deity) beckons, one can go to Sabarimala only if Lord Ayyappa beckons. Similarly, I was lucky to take this pilgrimage because Muthappan (St Thomas) called me,’’ he said.

While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) refused to comment on the BJP leader’s visit to the Christian shrine, Sangh-linked think tank Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram’s director R Sanjayan said there was no historical proof that St Thomas visited India. “It is only a folklore that St Thomas established churches in Kerala. But the visit of Radhakrishnan to Malayattoor need not be linked with the RSS stand on St Thomas. It (about St Thomas) would continue to remain as an academic dispute. The visit of a BJP leader to the shrine would be part of the practical politics of BJP and there could be irrational aspects in it as in the pragmatic politics of all other parties. There is also hypocrisy in the debates over BJP-Christian dialogues,’’ he said.

RSS state pranth karyavahak P N Eswaran said: “Let people decide on it (Radhakrishnan’s visit to Malayattoor). We will never deviate from the basic tenets of Hindutva. RSS does not want to make any other comments on Malayattoor visit.’’

However, former general secretary of the Kerala Hindu Aikya Vedi (an umbrella outfit of pro-Sangh Parivar organisations) Bhargava Ram lashed out at Radhakrishnan. “I have concern whether this Christian appeasement of the BJP in Kerala would turn against the Hindu sentiments. BJP leaders can visit churches and kiss the palm of bishops, but they (BJP leaders) should do justice to Hindu sentiments,’’ he said.

On Good Friday, when BJP leaders were climbing the Malayattoor Hill, Bhargava Ram initiated a debate on social media that the hill had an ancient temple complex and it got alienated.

“How the Malayattoor church has got title deeds over the land owned by Nayathodu temple committee (devaswom). All the leaders of the Sangh are familiar with this issue. Every year, during the Adi Sankara Jayanti, this issue is being discussed. We never made it a dispute. Appeasing other communities at the cost of Hindu sentiments is not a right step politically. BJP would have to face the consequences of these appeasements, whatever shall be,’’ said Bhargava Ram.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the BJP has to reach out to new communities outside its traditional support base in Kerala if it has to win in the state — specifically mentioning that the party should change its approach towards Christians — the party is exploring ways to reach out to Christians in an attempt to expand its base. After the Assembly election results in March in the Northeast, where the BJP returned to power in all the three states that went to polls, Modi said the results in Meghalaya and Nagaland proved that the party was not seen as “anti-Christian” and said a BJP coalition would come to power in Kerala too.

BJP’s Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar has been holding meetings with eminent personalities from minority communities, including Christians, and on Easter Sunday party leaders visited Bishops of the Catholic Church and a few of the selected faithful in several parts of the state. That day, senior BJP leaders, including Union Minister V Muraleedharan, were seen flitting in and out of the Bishops’ houses, sharing Easter greetings from Prime Minister Modi. On social media, various official pages of the BJP were filled with images of a resurrected Jesus and Easter eggs. The party is also trying to bring in Christian faces. Earlier this month, it inducted veteran Congress leader AK Antony’s son Anil Antony. Though the party has been trying to project various Christian faces, including former minister K J Alphons and former Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan, to gain a toehold in the community, its electoral prospects have not improved significantly.

The party believes the state’s powerful Christian groups could be the ally it needs and has been tapping into the unease among them over incidents of Islamic fundamentalism in the state. A space has opened up for the party due to the fading away of several powerful Christian leaders in the recent past and the decline of the Kerala Congress (M).