Islamist Wave Is Driving Christians Into BJP's Fold In Kerala

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently resumed its outreach to Christians in Kerala under the 'Sneha Yatra' programme. BJP leaders and functionaries would meet members of the Christian community across the state till 30 December.

The last time the party conducted a wide outreach was during Easter in April this year. Eight church leaders belonging to the major Christian communities met Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his address at the Yuvam conference in Kochi.

The party's outreach to Christians in the state has been going on for quite some time now and it is time for them to make common cause with Hindus to take on the Islamists in the state.

Both Hindus and Christians in the state have had common concerns on issues like "love jihad" and conversions to Islam.

The Church in Kerala has been very outspoken against the conversion of women from the Christian community for marriage to Muslim men.

For instance, in a press release in 2021, the Synod (supreme body) of the Syro-Malabar Church had said, “It is a reality that there is love jihad targeting Christian women in Kerala. Out of 21 persons who joined the ISIS, half of them had been converted from Christianity. It should be an eye-opener for us.”

The Islamists, who have had a free run under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, have repeatedly given the Hindus and Christians a cause to join hands.

In a rally by the now banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in 2022, an Islamist organisation, a boy raised hate slogans against both Hindus and Christians, saying, “Hindus should keep rice for their last rites, and Christians should keep incense for their last rites.”

There are many other issues in Kerala that have irked the Christians.

One of them was the issue of 80 per cent of the scholarships for minorities being given to Muslims. This was later struck down by the Kerala High Court, but the LDF government, disregarding the concerns raised by the Hindus and Christians, appealed against the decision in the Supreme Court.

The second is the increasing importance of the Islamists and the Indian Union Muslim League to the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress.

Such issues have already pushed the Christians to look for alternatives.

Showing an inclination to support the BJP for economic reasons, Joseph Pamplany, an Archbishop of the Catholic Syro-Malabar Church, in March, said that if the Centre increased rubber prices to Rs 300 per kg, Christians would vote for the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Hindus and Christians together make up 73.11 per cent of the population of the state. According to the 2011 census, Hindus are 54.73 per cent, Christians make up 18.38 per cent and Muslims are 26.6 per cent.

Christians comprise a large part of the population in five central districts—Ernakulam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Kottayam, which have 42 Assembly constituencies.

There were nine seats in which the BJP came second in the 2021 Assembly elections. Support from Christians could have resulted in the victories of some of these candidates.

At present, the support of the Christians is divided between the UDF and the LDF. While most vote for the Congress, a good number of them vote for the LDF because it now also has a Christian party — the Kerala Congress (Mani).

The BJP on its part has given important positions to Christian faces like Alphons Kannanthanam, Tom Vadakkan and Anil Antony.

While Kannanthanam was made a minister in the previous Modi government, Vadakkan and Antony are among the party's spokespersons.

It is for the Christians to now see the writing on the wall and make a decisive choice.