A post by the Congress party unit in Kerala, mocking a recent meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis, has sparked controversy and led to an official apology. The contentious post was shared on the party’s X account (formerly Twitter) on Monday, June 17.
The Controversial Post
The post featured a photo of Prime Minister Modi and Pope Francis during their meeting in Italy, accompanied by the caption, “Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!” This was a sarcastic reference to Modi’s previous statement where he implied that he believed he had been “sent by God” for a specific mission.
Immediate Backlash
The tweet drew swift condemnation from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who accused the Congress of insulting both Pope Francis and Prime Minister Modi. Kerala BJP president K Surendran responded on X, “The @INCIndia Kerala ‘X’ handle, seemingly run by radical Islamists or Urban Naxals, continues to post derogatory and humiliating content against nationalistic leaders. Now, it has even stooped to mocking the respected Pope and the Christian community.”
Amit Malviya, in charge of BJP’s IT Cell, demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi, the former president of the Congress and a practising Catholic, alleging that the Congress had a history of disrespecting various faiths. “After mocking the Hindus and deriding their faith, the Islamist-Marxist nexus in the Congress has now come down to insulting the Christians,” he wrote.
Congress’s Defense and Retraction
In response to the backlash, the Congress party’s Kerala unit removed the controversial tweet and issued an apology. The party clarified that the post was not intended to insult any religion or religious leaders and expressed regret for any distress caused to Christians.
The Congress referred to Pope Francis’ own statement that making jokes about God is not heresy: “When you manage to make intelligent smiles gush from the lips of even one spectator, you make even God smile. Pope Francis said this on Friday, 14th June on the same day after he met Narendra Modi.”
Official Apology
The Congress issued a formal apology, stating, “No Congress worker would even entertain the remotest thought of insulting the Pope, whom Christians around the world see as God-like. However, the Congress has no qualms about mocking Narendra Modi, who insults the believers of this country by calling himself God.”
Broader Context and Criticism
Mathew Anthony, a Congress spokesperson, criticized the Prime Minister’s silence on issues affecting minorities in India. “We also know that the Prime Minister has been keeping a studied silence on Manipur, where the minorities have been persecuted, and places of worship destroyed. Minorities faced persecution in Assam and Northeast and the PM has not uttered a word. We are calling out the hollowness of the PM towards the minority community and this camaraderie and this diplomacy [with the Pope] doesn’t mean anything serious by the PM towards the Christian community,” he said.
The incident has highlighted the sensitive nature of political discourse in India and the potential fallout from comments perceived as disrespectful to religious figures and communities. The Congress party’s swift retraction and apology aim to mitigate the damage and clarify their stance on respecting all religions while maintaining their criticism of Prime Minister Modi’s policies and statements.
