The western Indian Maharashtra state did not include a Christian representative in the state panel meant to safeguard the interests of religious minorities, which Christian leaders say was unfortunate and unusual. “It is unfortunate that no one from the Christian community was given representation on the 11-member Maharashtra State Minorities Commission,” said Father Nigel Barrett, the spokesperson of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who heads the Bombay archdiocese in the state capital Mumbai.
The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on Oct. 11 filled nine vacant commission posts with six Muslims, two Jains, and a Sikh member ahead of assembly polls in India’s most industrialized state on Nov. 20. The minority panels are set up to safeguard and protect the interests of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain, and Zoroastrians (Parsis), who are notified as minority communities in the country. Christians comprise less than 1 percent (0.96) of Maharashtra state’s 126.5 million people, most of whom are Hindus. Buddhists (5.8 percent) and Jains (1.25 percent) are more numerous than Christians. However, Sikhs (0.20 percent), who are fewer than Christians, have a representative in the panel. “As a religious minority, we have every right to have at least one member in the statutory body,” Father Barrett told. The priest added, “There is resentment among the community.” He asked the government to reconsider the decision. It is the first time the state had completely kept Christians out of the minorities panel, noted Abraham Mathai, a former member of the state’s minorities commission. Christians “are legally entitled to get a seat on the commi-ssion,” Mathai told. Catholic activist Melwyn Fernandes from Mumbai (formerly Bombay) questioned the appointments just four days before the elections were announced. These appointments are aimed “at appeasing mi-nority groups,” Fernandes told. The Muslim community that got maximum representation constitutes over 12 percent of the population. So, their support is crucial ahead of the polls, he said. “It is evident that the appoint-ments were purely political,” Fernandes observed.