Thiruvananthapuram, 14 Sept

The Congress on Sunday strongly condemned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), accusing the Hindu nationalist group of displaying an "anti-Christian stance" following a critical article in its Malayalam publication Kesari.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said the article’s motive was to spread hatred in society and portray Christians as enemies of the country in the name of alleged religious conversions. He questioned whether the BJP was ready to reject the stance adopted by the RSS in the article.

Aiming at the right-wing group, Venugopal said the Sangh Parivar’s professed love for Christians was “as fake as the blue fox of fable, which cannot stop howling no matter how much it is painted.” He added that the RSS, “accustomed to spewing venom against minorities, is declaring through the article that it will continue this practice until its last breath.”

Referring to the recent arrest and release of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh, Venugopal said the article exposed the “true faces” of those involved, including the state BJP chief, and urged citizens to remain vigilant against the blind anti-minority sentiments of Sangh Parivar organisations.

The criticism comes two days after the article, penned by RSS affiliate ES Biju, state vice president of Hindu Aikyavedi, appeared in Kesari. Titled Aagola Mathaparivarthanathinte Nalvazhikal (The timeline of global religious conversion), the piece criticised the Christian community over alleged religious conversions in India.

It cited the recent Chhattisgarh incident involving the Catholic nuns, alleging that political and religious leadership sought to create “religious and emotional conflict with a specific agenda.” The article questioned the “essence of the Indian Constitution,” claiming there is one justice for minority religions and another for the majority, while insisting that rules are meant to be equal for everyone.

The piece also argued that if religious conversion is the right of minority groups, Hindus have the “right and duty” to resist it. It concluded by stating that the current “strange situation” must be changed, calling for a constitutional amendment to legally ban religious conversion to “protect the entire population of the country.”