Catholic bishops in Kerala have issued a pastoral letter asking people to vote for “God-fearing” candidates, which a state minister says was bishops’ interference in politics. The circular from the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) was read out in parishes across the state on Sunday. It, media reports said, aims the civic polls that are round the corner and the Assembly elections less than a year away.
The circular asked people not to get duped by independent candidates often put up by parties to garner votes outside their political sphere of influence.
Communist circles saw the reference to “independents” as an allusion to they fielding non-party nominees, especially from the Christian community, in an effort to get Christian votes.
Communist leaders were quick to react to the circular dubbing it as a “politically prejudiced” move to help anti-Left forces and secure the narrow interests of the church establishment.
Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac described it as an attempt by the bishops to meddle in politics by seeking to turn elections into a “test of faith”.
Isaac, a CPI(M) Central Committee member, said that the move to reduce elections into a referendum on faith at the cost of real issues like price rise and well-being of all communities was not only unfortunate but also fraught with “dangerous consequences”.
The church sources, however, denied the charge maintaining that the letter only reflected genuine Christian concerns and that elections should be an opportunity for the “good and earnest” persons to emerge as the people’s representatives.
Ever since the LDF Government came to power four years ago, the Catholic Church had repeatedly come out against its policies, especially those pertaining to the education sector.
SIC: CTHIND