The Jesuit major superiors of South Asia have spoken out against the recent riots that broke out in Delhi that killed at least 47 people, and left hundreds wounded and many more homeless. The Jesuits condemned the “apparent complicity of the police forces in the violence” and called the inexplicable postponement of legal procedures “deplorable”.
The major superiors released their statement signed by Fr George Pattery SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, on 5 March during their annual meeting in Godavari, Nepal.
“The concerned citizens know that the hate speeches and divisive politics of the recent elections in Delhi, the all-pervasive hate-politics and mob lynching of the last decade and the attempts to appropriate ‘nationhood and religion’ for majoritarianism would all lead to inconceivable consequences for the body politic,” they said.
The incident on 24 February between groups supporting and opposing the new Citizenship Amendment Act is deemed the deadliest communal violence the Indian capital has seen in decades. The legislation provides citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, but not to Muslims. Opponents of the bill say it violates the Constitution that prohibits religious discrimination against its citizens.
“We pledge to protect the integrity of the Constitution and to preserve the ethos of our nation that was shaped by the founding fathers and mothers of our motherland after prolonged struggles and sacrifices for independence, and has been nourished by sages and saints of many religions from time immemorial,” the statement read.
The major superiors urged the Central Government “to immediately withdraw the hastily enacted discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), and initiate a process of dialogue with all concerned”.
The NPR is a register of Indian citizens containing demographic and biometric data. Civil rights activists fear that data collected from the NPR can be used to generate NRC to identify undocumented immigrants and could eventually render Muslims stateless if they don’t have the paperwork to prove their citizenship.
In their statement, the major superiors also appealed “to all concerned citizens, especially the Indian Jesuits and our institutions 1) to initiate processes of reconciliation among peoples and religions; 2) to continue serious study and research on the ramifications of CAA and NRC for the conceptions of nation, citizenship, and the Constitution; 3) to join peaceful protest movements opposing CAA, NPR, and NRC whenever and wherever possible; and 4) to support rescue works in the areas affected by communal violence”.
The Jesuit Conference of South Asia had earlier joined over 200 Christian leaders across India in condemning the Citizenship Amendment Act when it was passed in December 2019, engendering waves of protests across the country.
“We believe that the anti-CAA Movement will sustain itself as long as it remains non-violent yet courageous, resistant yet listening, audacious yet non-divisive, fearless yet compassionate,” the major superiors said.
Read the full statement here.