Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has added Velankanni Church in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to his govern-ment’s promised free pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens.
“We were getting requests from our Christian brothers and sisters to include some of their pilgrimage sites to the scheme, so we have decided to include Velankanni Church,” Kejriwal said at a virtual press conference on Nov. 24.
The provincial government of India’s national capital will be launching its free pilgrimage scheme on Dec. 3 with a group of 1,000 senior citizens boarding a train for Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, known as the birthplace of Hindu deity Ram. It has also announced free tours to other religious spots like Ajmer Sharif and Shirdi temple.
“India is a secular country where all religions, castes and creeds are respected. If Delhi government is implementing the scheme for other faiths, why not consider Christians too?” Father Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi, told. He, however, cautioned Christians to “be careful about the promises made by politicians” as they may not always come true. “Several states in India are due for assembly elections early next year, hence political party leaders are busy trying to woo voters with such promises,” the priest said.
A.C. Michael, a national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, told that the scheme would benefit over 300,000 Christians, mostly Catholics, in Delhi.
“It will be good if he [Kejriwal] could include pilgrimage centers of other denomination churches too,” he added.