Allegations of conversion not new: Panchjanya

In an article titled “Saleeb, Satta aur Shadyantra” (Crucifixion, Power and Conspiracy), it has said that Mother Teresa was given the Bharat Ratna due to the “necessities of the so-called secular politics of India”, and her sainthood was conferred on the basis of a “lie”. The MoC declined to comment on the article.

“The allegations of indulging in conversion in the name of service have often been levelled against Missionaries of Charity,” says the article. Citing some books and articles, it alleges that at MoC centres, the sick are deprived of medicines so that they experience the “pain of Jesus Christ during crucifixion”. However, it says, when Mother Teresa fell ill in December 1991, she was admitted to a medical facility in California. The article alleges that a nun left the MoC after she was not allowed to treat a sick boy.

Alleging that Mother Teresa’s image, as a symbol of motherhood, was created by carefully managing the media, the magazine says that “due to the necessities of the so-called secular politics of India, she was conferred the Bharat Ratna. Slowly, such a halo was created around (Mother) Teresa that it became difficult to ask questions.”

Her sainthood was conferred on the basis of a “lie” as the woman who claimed to have been cured of cancer by Mother Teresa never had the disease, says the article. It says that Mother Teresa was against family planning and never spoke about the cultural history of the people she served. In an interview, when Mother Teresa was asked to chose between Galileo and the Church, she chose the latter, it says.

Referring to allegations of child trafficking from the MoC centre in Jharkhand in 2018, the article says that West Bengal has emerged as a hub of human trafficking. Questioning West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s tweet that first made the development of MoC being denied FCRA renewal public, it says: “People are asking how Mamata Banerjee got to know of an action taken by the Centre… People’s questions are connected to the donations that political parties are receiving.”

MoC was refused renewal of its FCRA registration by the MHA on December 25 last year based on “adverse inputs”. The Ministry did not specify what those were. The MoC had said earlier that it had asked its centres “not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved”.

On December 12 , the MoC was booked under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, for allegedly “luring towards Christianity young girls” at a shelter home in Vadodara. It rejected the charge.

Inputs from Sweety Kumari, Kolkata