RSS sings song of salvation for the Christians

He had called upon the Christians to free themselves from the stranglehold of foreign domination, a demand which was criticised by Christian groups and political parties as an attack on `freedom of religion.’

The 36-page Vatican document came in response to a resolution passed last month by the millennium conference of religions at New York, which said that all religions were equal.

Asked specifically whether RSS was no more particular about the establishment of a Swadeshi Church, Vaidya, formerly a teacher with a college run by the Scottish church, told PTI, "If they (the Indian church) accept the idea, it will be welcomed by majority of the Christians but if they do not, they should at least accept that there are many paths to salvation."

Sudarshan has said Indian Christians should distance themselves from foreign churches indulging in "anti-national activities" and asked them to agree to the proposal for formation of a national church.

"The majority of Christians are in the national mainstream. By forming a national church they will only distance themselves from the politically-motivated anti-national activities of the foreign chruch," the RSS supremo said in an interview to the organisation’s mouthpiece "Organiser".

Stating that the demand for a swadeshi or national church was not new, he said it was for Christians to decide whether they should form themselves into one or more churches. "Marthoma Church and a majority of orthodox Syrian Christians have severed all foreign connections," Sudarshan pointed out.

"Foreign Church inspired insurgency has been a major problem in the North-East since Independence and is growing stronger with each passing day," he said.

Asked whether the proposal was meant to divide Indian Christians, he said there was no question of dividing the community. "It is already divided into so many sects with daggers drawn at each other," he said.

To a question, the RSS chief said that fundamental right to worship did not envisage adherence to a foreign Church. "On the other hand conversion itself is an infringement on one’s fundamental right of worship."

Meanwhile, the RSS today issued a veiled threat to the BJP-led NDA coalition saying any government opposing the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will have to face its "consequences."

The Sangh Parivar outfit also criticised BJP "as a political party" for diluting its stand on issues like Ram temple and Article 370 "which brought it to power."

"The people of this country want a grand temple to be constructed at the place of Lord Ram’s birth. Any government opposing it will face the ire of the people when the elections come, like Mulayam Singh Yadav faced after the firing on kar sewaks in 1990," RSS chief organiser Suresh Rao Ketkar told PTI in an interview here.