ICC Note:
Last weekend, most of India and the world celebrated the sainthood bestowed upon Mother Teresa. In India, where Mother Teresa gave so much of her life in service, members of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are not happy. Sudhir Gupta, a senior BJP leader accused Mother Teresa this week of forcefully converting Hindus to Christianity and questioned whether making her a saint was right. Hindu nationalists have long sought to minimize the work of Mother Teresa in India as they view India should be a “Hindu only” country. Currently, with BJP at the head of India’s national government, Christian in India are facing more persecution then ever in the country’s history.
9/8/2016 India (Gulf News) – Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sudhir Gupta on Wednesday stoked controversy by questioning the sainthood accorded to Mother Teresa describing it as “highly objectionable” and alleging that she indulged in religious conversions in exchange for the services she offered to the poor.
Talking to a private television channel, Gupta, a Member of Parliament (MP) from Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh (MP), said that “conferring sainthood on Mother Teresa by Pope Francis three days ago in the Vatican City is highly objectionable and questionable as she had converted many people including some children to Christianity without obtaining their consent.”
He said there was no question that Mother Teresa had served the poor in the country, but her act of conversions was troubling and the world should think about it.
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