
Mon Sep 15 07:09:23 UTC 2025: **Summary:**
An editorial in Deepika, the Catholic Church’s mouthpiece in Kerala, has strongly criticized an article published in the RSS mouthpiece Kesari, alleging it reveals the Sangh Parivar’s anti-Christian agenda and is part of a conspiracy to undermine the Constitution. The Deepika editorial accuses Kesari and its author, a leader of Hindu Aikya Vedi, of employing divisive tactics similar to those used by the British during India’s independence movement. This comes as the BJP is attempting to court Christian voters in Kerala, while simultaneously pushing laws against religious conversion in other states. The Kesari article, written in response to the arrest of two Kerala nuns, alleges that the Church is attempting to facilitate conversions and alter the country’s legal framework.
**News Article:**
**Kerala Catholic Church Slams RSS Publication for Anti-Christian Article**
**KOTTAYAM, September 15, 2025 (The Hindu)** – Tensions are rising in Kerala as the Catholic Church’s official publication, Deepika, has launched a scathing rebuttal against an article published in Kesari, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Deepika editorial, published Monday, accuses the RSS publication of “laying bare the true colors” of the Sangh Parivar and engaging in a “calculated conspiracy to undermine the Constitution by targeting Christians.”
The controversy stems from an article in Kesari penned by E.S. Biju, a state vice-president of Hindu Aikya Vedi, which made serious allegations against the Church and its leadership. The article, titled ‘The Pathways of Global Religious Conversion’, claimed that the Church is attempting to alter the country’s legal framework to facilitate religious conversions. It was published against the backdrop of the arrest of two Kerala nuns in Chhattisgarh earlier this year.
Deepika’s editorial strongly condemned the Kesari piece, accusing it of employing the same divisive tactics used by the British during India’s independence movement. “Having stayed away from the Indian Independence movement and oiled the divisive machinery of the British, they still persist with the same agenda even after the nationalists drove away imperialism,” the editorial stated. It further suggested that the recent tightening of laws prohibiting religious conversion in BJP-ruled states is unconstitutional.
The clash comes at a politically sensitive time, with the BJP actively seeking to gain support from Christian communities in Kerala. Deepika accuses the BJP of duplicity, extending one hand to Christians in Kerala while simultaneously advancing a different agenda elsewhere in the country.
The heated exchange highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding religious conversion and the complex political landscape in Kerala, where the BJP is attempting to make inroads into the state’s diverse religious demographics.