How PM Modi snubbed Sangh Parivar on Mother Teresa canonization
The Vatican had invited Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to attend the Pope Francis-led open-air mass on September 4 where Mother Teresa is to be canonised as a Catholic saint. Sections in the Sangh Parivar didn’t want any Indian government representation at the mass, and some even initiated an online petition in which it called Mother Teresa a “soul harvester” who proselytised the poor.
According to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources, the PM snubbed the Sangh Parivar by deciding that India is represented at a senior level at the mass. While he himself couldn’t go ostensibly as the Egyptian president will be on a state visit to India from September 1 to 3 and also because of domestic political events, he decided that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj should lead a delegation to represent India government at the mass. Swaraj is number three in the council of ministers after the PM and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The delegation also includes BJP’s Christian leaders like its Deputy Chief Minister in Goa Francis D’Souza and K J Alphons.
The Sangh Parivar’s views on Mother Teresa are well known, most recently voiced in February 2015 by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat at an event in Alwar, Rajasthan. There, Bhagwat insinuated that in the name of service, Mother Teresa converted people to Christianity.(more)
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