Catholic Church next? It owns more land than Waqf Board, says RSS magazine

A recent article in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser about the Catholic Church being the largest landholder in the country has prompted Opposition leaders to say that after passing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the next target of the BJP government at the Centre would be Christians.

The Organiser article

The article in the Organiser with the title, “Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board debate” that was published on April 3 said that it is the Catholic Church, and not the Waqf Board as was commonly believed, that is the second-largest landowner in India after the government.

The article said that the Catholic Church owns around 17.29 crore acres of land all over the country.

“The total estimated value of these properties is around ₹20,000 crore, making the Church a significant player in India’s real estate landscape. As of 2012, the Catholic Church has 2,457 hospital dispensaries, 240 medical or nursing colleges, 28 general colleges, 5 engineering colleges, 3,765 secondary schools, 7,319 primary schools, and 3,187 nursery schools in the field of education and healthcare sector in the country.”

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The article claims that much of the land was acquired by the Church during British rule, and that the British administration in 1927 passed the Indian Church Act, facilitating large-scale land grants to the Church.

The Organiser article also raised the question whether some of the land was obtained through “questionable means”. It alleged that reports suggested that the schools and hospitals run by the Church lured economically-disadvantaged persons by giving them free or low-cost services, and then pressured them to convert to Christianity.

The article further alleged that there were cases where landowners from rural and tribal communities were encouraged or sometimes coerced into converting to Christianity and then their lands were taken over by Church-affiliated groups.

Majority communalism: Kerala CM Vijayan

BJP leaders, especially in Kerala, have been saying that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a “gift” to the protesters in Munambam whose land was being claimed by the Waqf Board.

However, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday (April 5) said the article in the Organiser about the property owned in the country by the Catholic Church indicates the "true mindset" of the right-wing organisation and the alleged "majority communalism of the Sangh Parivar".

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In a statement issued by his office, Vijayan said that though the article was removed from the website of the RSS mouthpiece, it gives some "negative signals". The CM also alleged that it should be seen as part of "a grand plan to target the minority groups one by one and destroy them step by step".

In his statement, Vijayan further claimed that it also shows the Sangh Parivar's "intense majority communalism which is against other religious communities". He urged all progressive democratic secular movements to jointly resist such moves.

We warned Church Bill will follow: Satheesan

A similar view was expressed by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan who claimed that the article shows that the RSS has now set its eyes on the property of the church.

Satheesan, while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, claimed that in the article, the RSS has asked the central government to acquire the over seven crore hectares of land belonging to the Catholic Church. He contended that according to the RSS, the church property was illegally leased during the British era.

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Satheesan claimed that the RSS demand in the article came on the same day when the Waqf Bill was passed in the Parliament.

"We warned that if the Waqf Bill is passed, the Church Bill will follow," he added.

The Opposition leader said that such actions indicate that while the Sangh Parivar was trying to appease Christians in Kerala, it was attacking them in the rest of the country. He expressed hope that the Christians will recognise them as "wolves in sheep's clothing".

Precedent to target other communities: Rahul

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged the "Waqf Bill attacks Muslims" and "sets a precedent to target other communities in future".

In a post on microblogging site X, Rahul shared an article which claimed that the RSS has now shifted focus to Catholic Church land after the passage of Waqf Bill.

"I had said that the Waqf Bill attacks Muslims now but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future. It didn't take long for the RSS to turn its attention to Christians," the Congress leader wrote referring to the article.

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"The Constitution is the only shield that protects our people from such attacks - and it is our collective duty to defend it," Rahul wrote.

Congress leader KC Venugopal too shared another article pointing to Catholic Church surpassing Waqf Board in landholdings and said, "As predicted, first one minority targeted, now onto the next."

(With agency inputs)